The Lone Star Mourning Precedence
by Boys3allC
Summary: Tragedy as befallen Sheldon's family in Texas, he wants Amy to accompany him on his trip. Will meeting the Cooper clan bring to to closer together or will the secrets Sheldon has withheld pull them apart?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: I do not own the Big Bang theory or any of its characters I am just a big fan. Also there is alot of characters in this story that are alluded to on the show but not really fleshed out. I have given them personalites as I see fit, I hope you enjoy.**

Amy drives, music blasting, leaving the window down so the evening breeze can clear her thoughts. Amy has had a weird feeling all day, a twinge in her gut that she can not place. Amy attributes some of it to her lack of communication with her boyfriend today. Amy tries to give him space, but sometimes it is hard. If it were up to her she would call him every hour just to hear the sound of his voice. Amy makes it to the Los Robles and feels slightly better as she parks the car. Knowing that she will see him soon and get her date night kiss, is easing some of the tension inside of her.

Amy knocks on the door of 4B, a mere formality Sheldon is expecting her. Amy wonders if there ever will be a point in there relationship where they can enter, each others apartments freely. Tonight's date night is Sheldon's choice, no doubt he will chose to order pizza and make her watch some silly space nonsense.

"Good evening, Dr. Fowler" Sheldon says opening the door for her.

"Hello Dr. Cooper." Amy says pleased that he seems to be in a good mood. Maybe she can convince him to go out for dinner, maybe try some place new.

"Would you care for a cup of tea?" he asks as she follows him into the apartment.

"That would be lovely." Amy says making herself at home in his kitchen. Amy smiles to herself, she loves this little tradition of theirs. Sheldon puts the kettle on before she arrives, asks her if she would like some. Then sits on the stool and watches her as she makes their cups. Amy has made a game of deciphering his mood by which tea he picks.

"What will it be today? Chamomile?" Amy asks slyly.

"Hardly! not unless you want me to fall asleep at dinner." Sheldon says raising his arched eyebrows at her. Oh, Amy thinks happily, at dinner means be expects they will be leaving the apartment to eat.

"Let's do red zinger, it is zingy." Sheldon says and it is Amy's turn to raise her eyebrows.

"Feeling zingy today are we? I myself am going to go for peppermint." Amy tells him.

"Peppermint? do you have a stomach ache?" Sheldon asks concerned but before she can answer, Sheldon's phone rings and he looks down at it and smiles, Amy knows it is his mother by his expression. He sets down his tea and picks up the phone and signals to Amy that he will be a minute and walks to his room. Amy sighs she wonders if Sheldon smiles like that when she calls him. Penny says yes, that his eyes light up when he sees it is her on the phone but she has her doubt's. Then she wonders why Sheldon never talks to his mother with her in the room. Mary knows about her, or at least she knows of her, she has no idea if he has ever told her they are actually dating now.

"Oh god! No!" she hears him cry from his room and then she hears a wracking sob. Amy gets up and rushes to his room he is sitting on the bed and the expression on his face is heart breaking.

"Of course, I will take the first flight out, see you soon." He hangs up the phone and hangs his head staring at the floor.

"Sheldon what's wrong?" Amy asks and be looks up at her his eyes rimmed red and unfocused.

"Its Memaw, she died, she's dead." he chokes out and starts to cry again, not with tears but his patented dry sob. All Amy wants to do is wrap her arms around him and make him feel better. Yet she hesitates the last thing she wants is for him to accuse her of thinking if sex at a time like this or something equally ridiculous. So she sits beside him and pats his back consolingly.

"I am so sorry Sheldon, I know how much she meant to you. Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to pack your bag? Book your flight? Bring you tea?" Amy asks him but it seems like he has gone catatonic. Amy sits with her hands folded waiting for him to respond. After a while he looks up at her like he just noticed she was there.

"Can you go with me?" he asks and Amy is floored.

"Of course." Amy tells him and tries to contain her excitement that he would ask her to come. She waits for him to tack on that he wants Leonard to come too or that he needs her there to drive him around. Or anything that will deflate her little balloon of hope.

"I don't think I can do this alone." he says quietly and it breaks her she grabs wraps her arms around him in a tight embrace. He says nothing at let's her hug him, Amy releases him and he slowly rises. "There is so much to do, I've got to pack, book my flight, call work.

" I can help what do you want me to do?" Amy asks him.

"Can you book us a flight? The earliest one, I want to leave as soon as possible." Sheldon says dazed.

"Certainly, I will leave now, go back to my apartment and book our flights."

"You are going to leave me?" he asked panicked.

"Sheldon I have to pack, I don't have any of my things here." Amy tells him.

"Yes of course, but come right back OK."

Amy drives back to her apartment her head full her thoughts racing. Could this have been the weird feeling that she has been having all day? That is ridiculous, just as silly as believing in physics. Amy argues with herself back and forth, he needs me she thinks gleefully. Then another voice chimes in you were the first person he saw and nothing else. Had Leonard been the one with him they would be in Texas before she heard anything about it. Amy gets to her apartment and packs quickly, how long will they be gone she wonders. Amy errs on the side of caution and packs for a week. She packs a somber black dress ,stockings and shoes for the funeral. The rest she packs practical pieces that can be layered and mix and matched. Amy logs onto her computer and books the first flight they leave tonight at 9:00. Amy calls him to let him know.

"Hey, I booked us a flight we can leave tonight at 9:00 that should but us in Texas sometime after midnight if everything goes according to plan. Do you need me to book us hotel rooms or a rental car?"

"Good, I will call my mother and let her know. I do not think we will need a rental car she or someone else can pick us up at the airport. We can stay at my mothers house so a hotel room won't be necessary."

"Does she know I am coming? Should I book myself a hotel room just in case?"

"I have not told her your coming specifically yet but I do not think it will be a problem. She is always nagging me to come visit and bring you with me." Sheldon tells her and her heart skips a beat. Another little piece of the puzzle so his mother knows they are dating and she wanted her to come visit. Amy masks her excitement and tries to remain calm.

"Oh Ok , I have a few loose ends to tie up here and then I will come get you." Amy calls the university and let's leaves a message explaining that her boyfriends grandmother died and she is flying to Texas to support him. Amy feels important leaving that message, she is important to him.

Amy picks Sheldon up at his apartment and they head to the airport, he is quiet as they drive. Once at the airport Sheldon has taken on an pinched look that worries Amy.

"Are you OK?" Amy asks.

"Besides losing one of my favorite people in the world and being ripped from my routine to fly at break neck pace to Texas I am just peachy.," Sheldon snaps. Amy tries not to take it to heart he is tired, grieving, and scared, not a combination pleasant in Sheldon.

"Sorry, we will be there soon enough." Amy says simply

"I am sorry, I will feel better once we are in Texas." Sheldon says taking a deep breath.

The park the car in one of the lots, Amy pays for a week in advance. Hoping it won't be longer than that. The silently make their way through the airport and board their flight. Sheldon takes the seat by the window, and Amy sits beside him taking out a book from her purse. The flight is not that long but she doesn't expect Sheldon will be good company right now.

They exit the plane and the terminal is nearly empty except for an exceptionally large man standing in the middle with his arms crossed. The man is wearing a frayed cap with a hunting logo on it and a faded T-shirt. The mans arms are bulging out from the arms of the shirt that he has cut the sleeves off of. The man walks slowly over to them and Amy starts to feel frightened she hopes they are not about to be attacked or robbed. The man grabs Sheldon and wraps him up in a bone crushing hug, now Amy is worried Sheldon will snap in half.

"Shelly! Its been too long! It shouldn't take something like this for me to see my baby brother." he says releasing him then he grabs Amy and hugs her. The first thing she thinks is how different the two brothers are. George smells like sweat and tobacco, with a slight sour note like old whiskey. They are both tall but George makes Sheldon seem tiny. Amy can see that his eyes are red rimmed like he has either been crying a lot or drinking, Amy hopes it is the former.

"You must be Amy! Mom told us Shelly had a girlfriend but I did not believe her until now! I just lost my bet with Missy!"

"Amy as you might have gathered by now this is my older brother George Jr."

"Pleased to meet you." Amy tells him as he releases her.

They go to baggage claim to get their luggage that had been to big to check. The conveyer belt rotates slowly there is not many bags on and they spot their bags easily.

"Well come on let's get going everyone is over at moms house." George says striding away.

They follow George out of the airport and to a black pick up truck. George grabs their bags and throws them in the bed. It is a small pickup with only room for two in the front. Amy has to squeeze into sideways facing chair in behind Sheldon. They drive through downtown Houston in many ways it is similar to any other metropolitan city. Bright lights, the same stores and restaurants you find everywhere else. Amy gazes fixedly out the window trying to make out the cities features in the inky darkness, this is her first time in Texas.

As they drive George talks and Amy listens she finds out more about the Cooper clan in that forty five minute car ride than she has learned in four years with Sheldon. George talks about cousins she never knew he had, the Coopers seem to be a prodigious group. Sheldon appearing to be the only one of the group that moved outside of Texas. She learns that George is a truck driver and just happened to be on a two week rest before heading back out on the road. Appearantly Memaw had been sick for awhile, no one had told Sheldon because they all thought she had more time and they did not want him to worry. Amy got the impression that his family thought Sheldon to be extremely fragile.

As they drove the city gave way to a suburban scrawl, the kind of place families flock to raise children. They pull into a older but tidy looking development and follow its neatly planned roads to the Cooper homestead. Amy exits the truck stiffly, the ride had not been a comfortable one she wishes they had just rented a car. Amy follows the Cooper boys as the walk up the drive. Amy thinks that you could fit two of Sheldon in the shadow his burly brother casts.

The enter the house to find Mary sitting on the couch wringing her hands. She too has the red rimmed look of someone who has been crying a lot.

"Oh boys! I am glad that you are here! Sheldon I hope your flight was OK I would have gone to pick you up myself but there is so much to be done here. Georgie said he did not mind and Missy has the baby!"

"Its fine mother, it is nice to see George again." Sheldon says accepting a hug from his mother.

"Amy! Honey! I am glad you came along with him! You know I have been pestering him to come for a visit and bring you along with him for some time." Mary says hugging her.

"It is nice to meet you again Mrs. Cooper I am just sorry it has to be under these circumstances."

"Me too honey, me too." Mary looks like she might cry again " Well I guess ya'll are tired after your flight. There will be plenty of time for talking in the morning. You two can take Sheldon's old room." Sheldon stands looking at her agape.

"But mother wouldn't you feel more comfortable if Amy slept in Missy or George's old room?"

"Well Missy is in her room, and George's old room doesn't have a bed anymore. Besides, you are a grown man and you have been with this young lady for some time. I may be a tad traditional at times but I am not clueless." Mary says with a knowing nod. Oh she is clueless Amy thinks, but not in the way she thinks.

"I could sleep on the couch, I don't mind, I don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable." She puts an edge on the word hoping his mother will pick up on the slight verbal cue.

"Nonsense!" Mary says.

"Yes, Amy you do not want to sleep on that couch." Sheldon shares a look with his mother and his mother stares him down. Amy knows they are communicating something between them but she has no idea what.

"Amy come on I will show you to my old room." Amy follows him down the hall and her heart is in her throat. It must have two beds in there she thinks perhaps bunk beds. Sheldon opens the door for her and Amy walks in just one twin bed, interesting. Amy looks around it is fascinating being in his old room, she has never been in a boys room at his mothers house before. The room is tidy like his room at the apartment, with posters of various science icons and super hero's on the walls. Amy walks cautiously around taking everything thing in, she wishes she had Sheldon's memory she does not want to forget anything. Sheldon starts unpacking is suitcase putting his things away in chest of drawers.

"I will take the top two drawers and you can have the bottom two. My underwear and my T-shirts will have to share but I can live with that." After he is done unpacking he makes his way over to the bed. Amy's heart is thudding so hard she is afraid that he will hear it. Amy imagines what sharing that twin bed will feel like. Having his long lanky body pressed up against hers his arm wrapped around her shoulder. Then he bends down and pulls out a trundle from underneath his bed. The bed has ninja turtle sheets that have probably been on since the bed was purchased.

"Oh you have a trundle bed that is convenient." Amy remarks trying to mask any disappointment in her voice.

"Yes, what I asked for was a bunk bed with a slide, my mother thought I might risk injury ,on a bed such as that. Also she had the mistaken impression that I wanted a bunk bed so I could have a guest over. So Mother thought a trundle bed was the perfect compromise. Needless to say I was disappointed in my lack of bunk bed and she was disappointed in my lack of guests."Sheldon sighs.

" I guess I am the first guest to sleep there." Amy says.

"No not the first, once when I came home for the summer my sister had a male friend staying with her and he slept in the trundle. Thankfully he would disappear in the middle of the night and not return until morning. You are however the first guest I invited and the only girl other than my mother and sister to set foot in my room." Amy smiles at him.

"Well I guess we should get to sleep, I am sure there will be lots to do in the morning." Amy tells him

"The bathroom is down the hall on the left if you would like to wash up and change in there. I will let you go first then I will go." Amy gathers her things and goes down the hall. She takes a hot shower scalding all the indecent thoughts from her brain. She is here to support her boyfriend who is in pain not scheme of ways to jump his bones. Amy stares at herself in the mirror as she brushes her teeth. Her cheeks look a tad to pink, her eyes look tired of course it is almost two in the morning now. Amy wraps her robe tightly around herself and pads back down the hall into his room. Sheldon is not in there anymore she wonders where he went. Amy gets into trundle bed, the sheets smell fresh and she notices that they have been changed from ninja turtles to a pink floral. There is also a fluffy pink blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed that was not there before. Amy smiles into her pillowcase picturing Sheldon carefully picking out and changing the linens. Amy starts drifting off when she hears Sheldon enter the room again. He climbs into his bed silently, Amy chances a look at him and sees that he is laying face up on the bed staring at the glow in the dark stars pasted there.

"Amy?" he asks into the darkness.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for coming with me."

"Of course, I am here to support you that is my job as your girlfriend." Amy sees him slowly and deliberately move his hand from on his chest to dangle off the side of his bed near Amy. With an unspoken understanding Amy knows what he wants and grabs his hand in hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. Amy moves to remove her hand but Sheldon holds on fast and eventually Amy drifts off still gripping his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: I do not own The Big Bang Theory or its characters. Also I made this a M rating for the things coming up and for some of the language so do not be frustrated just yet.

Amy wakes up in the morning unsure of where she is, certainly not her comfortable bed with her blue quilt. Then the events of the previous evening come flooding back and she turns to see Sheldon sound asleep his hand still dangling off the edge of his bed. Amy gets up quietly trying not to disturb him, he has had a rough go of it he deserves to sleep.

Amy tiptoes down the hall trying not to disturb anyone to use the bathroom. On her way back to the bedroom she hears voices in the kitchen and smells something delicious. Amy's stomach rumbles it has been ages since she last ate. Amy remembers that they had been on their way to dinner when Sheldon received the call. Amy walks into the kitchen and sees Mary standing at the stove flipping bacon. A tall beautiful woman with long dark hair is stirring something in a bowl with one hand and balancing a baby on her hip with the other.

"Hi." Amy says tentatively "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Oh hey sugar!" Mary calls. "No honey you are a guest in this house you just set on down." Mary says indicating a chair.

"I really don't mind." Amy says walking in.

"In that case hold Ayden while I cut the biscuits." The other woman says Amy sees that her tummy is swollen with another baby. Amy thinks this must be Missy and the baby is Sheldon's nephew. Amy takes the baby who by Amy's calculations must be around eighteen months old. He is cute with wide blue eyes and dark hair like his uncle. The baby is he is fat and sweet, Amy likes his warm cuddly feeling in her lap. Amy bends down to sniff him surreptitiously and giggles to herself he smells like his uncle too ,baby powder. Amy sits down with the baby and plays with him she does not have much experience with babies but this one is quite nice. He looks up at her and says clear as day "You are pretty" Amy is shocked.

"Did he just…" Amy begins

"Lord help us yes!" Missy says "Takes more than his middle name from his genius uncle! Been talking since he was nine months old."

The woman continue to work on breakfast and George Jr. makes his way inside the kitchen. He seems to take up more space than should be allowed as he graps a cup of coffee. He takes giant gulp and looks at disdainfully.

"Momma! What is this decaf shit I ain't ever gonna wake up with this shit." George says dumping the rest of the cup down the drain and grabbing a coke from the fridge.

"Georgie! You know I will not tolerate that kind of language in my house!" Mary wails popping him on the shoulder.

"Oh! screaming and cursing so early in the morning! How,I have missed the sweet symphony that is home!" Sheldon says walking into the kitchen and sitting next to Amy.

"Ya'll are just in time! Breakfast is served." Missy says taking the biscuits out of the oven. Mary and Missy make everyone plates then Missy takes Ayden from Amy and pops him into a high chair. Amy is about to dig in to the plate before her. Amy's stomach is gurgling with hunger but Sheldon taps her lightly under the table and indicates his mother with his head. Mary has her eyes closed and is bent over her plate preparing to say the blessing. Amy turns red she is not used to saying the blessing before meals. Amy is not used to big family breakfasts either. Breakfast with her mother was usually oatmeal and staying silent as possible.

"Let's all gather hands and say the blessing." Mary begins. Sheldon grabs her hand and squeezes and she grabs Missy's. Amy closes her eyes and bows her head she hopes she is doing it right. She opens her eyes and sees she is doing what everyone else is doing.

"Oh Lord please bless this food for this family, please see fit to cleanse our hearts that are heavy with grief today. Please lord we thank you for allowing our family to reunite again no matter how far apart we are. Thank you lord for seeing fit to grace our Sheldon with Amy who is an answer to our prayers." Amy turns beet red and she feels Sheldon squeeze her hand extra hard. The blood is pounding so hard in her ears that she can't make out the rest of what Mary says until the Amen. Sheldon does not release her hand immediately after the amen and continues to hold it under the table for awhile. The food is delicious and Amy embarrassingly cleans her plate her mother always told her that a lady always leaves something on her plate. A lady must have never had Mary Cooper's cooking.

"Shelly do you think that you could come with me to the lawyers this morning. You understand more of that legal mumbo jumbo than I do.," Mary asks him.

"Yes mother that would be fine." Sheldon tells her.

"Missy and Amy do you think that you could help clean up around here for the wake tonight?"

"Yes Mamma." Missy obliges

"Certainly." Amy confirms.

"Wait I thought Amy would be coming with us. Amy is as intelligent as I am and it would be a waste to use her talents cleaning up like a maid."

"Oh and my talents aren't being wasted cleaning up?" Missy challenges him.

"Good god no, your whole life now is cleaning up after the messes of others." Sheldon tells her pompously.

"I am a stay at home mother! If you do not think that that is an important.." Missy begins but Amy interrupts.

"Sheldon I would feel more comfortable staying here with your sister. As a relative outsider it would be inappropriate for me to sit in at the lawyers. I am no stranger to cleaning I clean up my lab on a nightly basis."

"Alright that makes sense." Sheldon tells her mollified.

"What should I do?" George Jr. asks

"Stay out of trouble!" Missy and Mary say together.

Mary and Sheldon leave a short time later promising to not be very long. George Jr. takes Ayden and puts him on top of his shoulders and gallops out the door with him. Leaving Amy and Missy alone together in the kitchen to clean up.

"So how did you do it?" Missy asks handing Amy a soapy dish to dry.

"Do what?" Amy asks.

"Turn my brother from an emotionless robot boy who didn't even like being touched let alone like girls, into a man shares a room with a girl and who holds his girlfriends hand secretly under the table long after the blessing has been said." Amy blushes again.

"Oh you caught that did you? Well that was a bit out of character for him in our relationship agreement it states that we only hold hands at the movies or during long walks."

"Your relationship what?" Missy asks confused Amy tries to explain it to Missy the best that she can but Missy keeps giving her a crazy face."And it does not bother you that my brother has to plan out every aspect if y'all's relationship into some stupid document? "

"No not at all, actually I think that it is kind of romantic." Missy gives her another look and Amy tries to explain. " Sheldon has never had a girlfriend before, never had the want or need for one. The fact that it was so important to him to include me into his life in a way he found acceptable really warms my heart. " Amy tells her.

"Gosh, I guess he really did find the perfect woman, no one else I know would put up with that kind of thing." It is Amy's turn to give Missy a look. They finish cleaning up the kitchen then move on to other areas of the house.

"So tell me what Sheldon was like when he was young." Amy's asks as they dust the kick knacks on Mary's shelves.

"Besides a pompous annoying prick?" Missy says. "Well we stopped being in the same grade in kindergarten, all the other kids were scared of him because he was so smart."

"Why were they scared because he was smart?" Amy asks.

"Oh you know, he would use them big ole words and then he always knew things he oughtn't it was creepy. In fact if there was one word to use to describe Sheldon growing up it would be creepy."

"My mother says the same thing about me." Amy muses.

"Momma was always trying to get him to make friends, but he never did if course it is hard when you are nine years old and in the ninth grade."

"That must have been hard for him." Amy says.

"You wouldn't know it, he was so involved in science barely lifted his nose from a book or video game. The only friend we ever knew him to have was that Leonard boy. Of course that ,brought my momma more worries than relief at first."

"Why?"

"Well having the whole town think your son is a witch is one thing but a gay witch in Texas? Might as well move out right now!"

"She would still love him if he were gay right?"

"Of course! but being in east Texas it would be hard. But judging from what I have seen today our little Shelly is not gay right?,"

"No he is not gay, we have been dating for four years. But even if he was we would still be friends. Sheldon is the best friend I have ever had." Amy says coloring slightly.

"Of course! Sorry if it seems like I am prying, its just can't imagine, Sheldon being with anyone ,boy or girl. Growing up he did not like being touched or fussed with. 'Bout the only person he would let fool with him was Memaw. Used to sit in her lap and she would rock him in her chair. We were all a little jealous Sheldon was her favorite, called him her little Moonpie." Amy takes a minute to appreciate the mental image of little Moonpie being rocked in a chair.

"Sheldon is really torn up , I have never seen him this upset. I know how much his Memaw meant to him. Her, and your mother are the only people he will ever admit that he loves."

"Oh, I think there is one other person that he loves." Missy says winking at her and Amy is about to protest when George Jr. bounds in holding Ayden aloft.

"Your turn Missy! Little bugger smells six ways to Sunday! I might be the best uncle ever but I am not changing no shitty diapers!" George says thrusting the baby into her arms.

"Watch your language, around him Georgie! You know how he picks up on words."

"Sorry Missy." George says hanging his head.

"I went poop! I was outside, I forgot the potty!" Ayden tells his mother.

"That's OK, little monkey, you'll remember next time." Missy tells him carrying him off into the next room to change him.

George walks off again leaving Amy alone in the room to finish dusting and to collect her thoughts. Amy wonders if Mary is giving Sheldon as much of the third degree about their relationship.


	3. Chapter 3

Mary drives to the lawyers office Sheldon strapped in beside her. Mary is glad Sheldon was able to get here so quick, he can understand the legal wrangling better than she can. Mary looks over and smiles at her handsome son, his expression is serious as always. Yet there is something different about him, a maturity that had been absent before. Like he is happier in spite of the sad circumstance that has brought him here Mary thinks she can put her finger on it though, it might have something to do with the bespectacled brunette he brought with him.

"Amy seems like a mighty fine girl, Shelly. She did not hesitate to jump right in and help me and Missy in the kitchen." Mary tells him and Sheldon tilts his head and looks at her.

"Just so you know, and you can quit scheming, Amy and I aren't sleeping together." Sheldon tells his mother.

"Sheldon Lee Cooper! I have no idea what you are talking about!" Mary says scandalized but it does not fool Sheldon.

"Don't think ,I don't know what you are up too, making us sleep in the same room. You are prying mother, but if you wanted to know the nature of our relationship you could have just asked." Sheldon says.

"Sheldon , I have not been able to just ask you about anything, since you were a very little boy." Mary sighs.

"What do you want to know?" Mary looks over at him to see if he is joking but he appears to be in earnest.

"Honestly honey, anything would be nice at this point. I know she is your girlfriend now and not just your friend. Sheldon honey though you are a grown man, do you have plans with her? Or are you just diddling around?"

"Mother, I assure you that I am not just diddling around with her." at this he makes disgusted air quotes. "I am very serious about Amy, and I know this may be hard for you to hear but I am in love with her." Sheldon sighs knowing he is about to face an onslaught of questions. Mary surprises him though by asking none.

"Shelly! I think that is wonderful! Just so you know what you are telling me is not news to my ears. Honey, we have all known that you were in love with that girl, despite your claims otherwise."

"How did you know ,when I only recently became aware myself?" Sheldon asks her.

"Shelly, I have known since I had to fly to California to try and nurse your broken heart, over her." Mary says.

"I did not love her back then, very fond yes, missed her greatly yes, but I did not believe in love back then."

"You may not have believed in love, but love believed in you!" Mary crows, and Sheldon rolls his eyes at such a soppy sentiment. "Roll your eyes all you want! Even Memaw knew how you felt about her, talked all the time about how your letters went from science mumbo jumbo, to Amy did this, Amy said that."

"Speaking, of Memaw, why did no one tell me that she was sick? I could have been down here earlier." Sheldon says angrily.

"Honey, she told us not too, she knows hospitals make you nervous. The doctor diagnosed her with pancreatic cancer about six months ago. They told us it was very treatable with chemotherapy and that they could get her into remission. Then about a month ago we discovered that the cancer had spread, but they told us that it was still very treatable. Then about a week ago they said that we should start making arrangements. Shelly ,honey I was going to call you this weekend and see if you couldn't make time to come down. Then she passed, and I just feel awful, that you did not get to see her before." Mary says hanging her head trying to stifle the tears that are building.

"Don't cry mother, you had no way of knowing. In fact Memaw had sent me a letter just last month and she made no mention of any illness. She told me about the church bake sale, how George Jr. was coming back into town soon, and wouldn't it be nice if we could all get together. Now I am left to wonder if that was her way if telling me I should come. All I could think when I read it was, why would I want to see George Jr?"

"Why wouldn't you want to see Georgie?" Sheldon gives her a look and Mary sighs. "I know you two gave never been the best of friends but your brothers."

"Mother he made my life a living hell ,while I lived under your roof. I was subjected to daily taunts from everything from my intelligence to my looks. George has attempted to steal or destroy nearly every possession that ever meant anything to me. That's not to mention the physical abuse I suffered at his hands."

"Honey, ya'll were just kids! Brothers mess around and fight like that."

"He chased me down in school and pulled my pants down. He gave me Indian burn so severe I had a mark for a month, he gave me a swirly almost every day and you know how awful that was given my germ phobias. If we are being honest mother, Leonard is more of a brother to me than George ever was." Sheldon says bitterly

Mary sighs and supposes she can not refute that, a mother wishes her children would grow up and be close. But like the old proverb says, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink.

They pull into the parking lot of the lawyers office. It is a plain brick building with tinted glass doors. Mary leads the way and Sheldon follows, the lobby is gray and drab with industrial carpets and uncomfortable wooden chairs. There is a wide reception counter with an unpleasant looking woman at its helm. Her hair is a garish red and piled on the top of her head, looking like a bird of prey perched there. The woman looks at Sheldon and Mary with thinly veiled disgust.

"Appointments?" she says in a scratchy voice.

"Yes, my name is Mary Cooper, I am here to see about my mother's, will and arrangements, he is expecting me."

"Very well, have a seat." the woman says indicating the chairs and rising from her own. Sheldon sits down and Mary thinks how he is still all legs just like when he was young. He used to remind her of a newborn foal all gangly ,clumsy, legs. Mary sits beside him and crosses her legs looking around the stuffy office taking it all in.

"You want some of her candy, sugar?" Mary asks indicating a bowl of ribbon candy that has a thin layer of dust on top, Sheldon snorts.

"I'd wager that candy has been here longer, than that calendar." he says nodding his head at the wall. Mary looks up and sees a Cathy calendar showing it to be March 1996. Mary laughs behind her hand, this is nice she thinks, him being playful. Not too long ago his response may have been "Mother I do not think that candy is fit for human consumption." or some other fancy way ,of saying do not eat the candy.

In a few minutes the unpleasant woman emerges from the back bringing with her a small nervous looking man. His head is shiny and bald with a few black strands swept over top. He is wearing a rumpled brown suit, with cowboy boots and a bolo tie. He makes his way over to them and holds his hand which Mary shakes and Sheldon just stares at until he drops it limply by his side.

"You must be Mary, Elizabeth spoke very highly of you! And you must be Sheldon, her grandson? Come on back and let's get this started, I know this is a difficult time for ya'll but Elizabeth did everything in her power to make it easier." They follow the man back into his office , which is just as drab as the reception area. The walls are wood paneled and the carpet is a burnt orange that looks run down and worn. There is a smoky haze in the air like someone has been sneaking cigarettes. Mary takes a seat in a giant leather chair which makes dreadful sound like air being let out.

"Excuse me." Mary says turning red and trying to adjust in her seat without any additional sound effects. Once everyone is settled the lawyer pulls some documents out and slides them across the desk.

"This is Elizabeth's last will and testament, she names your son here the executer of the will. I think you will find everything pretty cut and dried though. Elizabeth knowing her time might be coming soon already made the majority of her funeral arrangements. Her casket has already been purchased, and her headstone is just waiting to be engraved."

"Yes, she is being buried next to my Father so there is already a headstone in place." Mary says.

"As far as other assets, she wanted that to be split evenly between her grandchildren. I am afraid there is not much, a few savings bonds, and a small life insurance policy."

"Missy and George can split my share, I already have all the money I need." Sheldon says picking up the papers and perusing them.

"How altruistic of you " Mr Melton comments.

"Altruism has nothing to do with it, I make enough money to pay my bills and save money comfortably. While my brother and sister have struggled to find jobs to support them the same way." Sheldon says matter of factly.

"There was one thing that Elizabeth wanted bequeathed specifically to you, I think she had an inkling about your attitude to her other assets. In fact she named each grandchild each one specific item." Sheldon looks at him curiously and he reaches into a desk drawer and pulls out three boxes. "To Missy she wanted to leave her pearls, that have always brought her luck, to George she wants to leave Pops purple medal, because she knows how much he admired it, and to Sheldon she left this her wedding ring because he is going to need it more than she will where she is going."

"Oh, Missy, is going to have a fit! She really wanted that ring it meant a lot to her." Mary says picking it up and looking at it. " Pop made it with emerald's and diamonds… "

" Because emerald's reminded him of her eyes and every girl worth loving deserves a diamond. " Sheldon finishes impatiently " Memaw used to say that all the time." although it looks like the color has drained from his face." When did she put the ring into the will? Was that fairly new, or has it always been in there?" with a slight edge to his voice.

"Shelly I hardly think that matters." Mary chides

"Now normally I am not privy to comment, but since you are executer I can tell you that she added that a month ago. Prior to that she had planned on being buried with it." Mr. Melton days smoothing down what is left of his hair.

"I see , that changes things then." Sheldon says absently as he takes the box from his mothers hands. He takes the ring out and holds it up to the yellowish fluorescent light and sighs. " Memaw always had a way to get what she wanted didn't she?" he says to no one in particular.

" She was a formidable woman." Mr. Melton agrees.

"Sheldon, what are you talking about? Did you ask Memaw for the ring?" Mary asks.

"Of course not, now let's conclude or business here and stop going on about some old jewelry." Sheldon says grumpily as he continues to peruse the papers in front of him. Mary Cooper is nobody's fool, and as smart as Shelly thinks he is, she knows when something is up. Mary knows there is something he is hiding from her and she plans to get to the bottom of it.

Amy is sitting alone in Mary's living room, Missy left a little bit ago to go buy some supplies for Ayden. She offered to take her with her, but Amy declined, she wanted to be home when Sheldon got back. It had been a long time already, almost three hours. Amy had no idea how far away the lawyers office was or how long it would take them when they got there. If there is one thing that Amy does not mind, it is being alone. Most of her adult life has been spent alone, and Amy found solace in the quiet. Although she had to admit she was getting kind of bored waiting.

Amy had already cleaned everything there is to clean in Marys already tidy home. So she gets the book she brought along from her bag and sits down to read. Suddenly though she gets the uneasy feeling of being watched and she looks up to see George Jr. standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. He is holding two cola bottles one in each hand, he takes a deep drink from one and then spits wetly into the other. Amy had forgotten that he was still in the house, and startles when she sees him.

"Did I scare you? Whatsurname? Annie?" George slurs hanging on the doorway. His stocky build fills the doorway completely, his head grazing the door jamb and his shoulders filling the narrow opening. The way he swings forward with his large forearms reminds Amy of the gorilla's in her lab. In fact everything about him seems rather ape like.

"Its, Amy, and yes ,you did startle me." Amy says looking back at her book.

"So you and Sheldon huh… that's funny!" he says then be lets out a big belly laugh.

"I fail to see what is so humorous about our relationship." Amy says still not looking up. Amy learned long ago that when confronted with a bully it is best not to make eye contact.

"Its just that, Shelly, doesn't, well, you know!" George slurs staggering into the living room.

"I most certainly do not." Amy says not looking up.

"So are you two knocking boots, doing the no pants dance, making whoopie!" George tells out whoopie like a sound effect and flops on the couch beside her. Amy can smell the alcohol coming off of him, he is pretty deep in his cups.

"I have never heard so many vulgar adages used for coitus before." Amy says averting his gaze which is fixed on her.

"Vulgar a-what for do what? George asks and Amy looks at him. His brown eyes look blank as he tries to process what she just said. Amy thinks she could use these two brothers in a case study on the adverse affects of tobacco and alcohol on the body. Where Sheldon still looked so young people mistook him for years younger than his thirty four years. Amy had a hard time believing that George was only four years older than him. His whiskered cheeks were ruddy and heavily jowled. His teeth have the brownish stains indicative of someone who dips tobacco, and his eyes are dull and bloodshot.

" Boy, you know a lot of rude terms for sex. You know For brothers you and Sheldon look nothing alike."Amy says annoyed.

" People used to say I got the looks and he got the brains." George says wiggling his eyebrows.

"I bet they don't say that anymore." Amy muttters under her breath.

"I wonder why you stay with a sexless robot like him? What is wrong with you? I mean, I see why he likes you, little ugly mousy thing, that talks just as fancy as he does." Amy ignores him, she is used to insults.

"I find Sheldons verbal skills to be one of his most attractive quailities." Amy tells him

"Used to call Sheldon professor, cus' he liked to use them big ole words. Not as funny when he became a professor of string cheese, or whatever."

"For your information, your brother is an acclaimed theoretical physicist, and his focus used to be string theory, which he has since moved on from." Amy says her ears turning bright red.

"What are you his secretary or something?"

"No, I am Doctor of neuroscience, I work at the university with him."

"A lady doctor! Well LA Dee DA!" George says letting out a whoop.

"You want to play doctor with me! Find out what a real man his like?" George says slinging his arm around Amy sloshing some foul smelling liquid from his bottle on her arm. George hastily wipes it off and sets the bottle on the table beside her.

"No thank you, for your information ,Sheldon is twice the man that you are." Amy retorts goaded beyond return and shoving his arm from around her. Amy looks at him and sees his eyes have gone dark and it frightens her."

"Every one loovvveees Sheldon!" he says throwing up his hands and drawing out the syllables of the word love mockingly.

" Sheldon is brilliant, Sheldon is special, Sheldon graduated high school at only eleven and you are a twenty year old senior! I was born in November! Its not fair! " George stammers; Amy rises to go but George pulls her back down by her arm roughly.

" Diddya know Memaw made him executer of the will! I am older dammit!" George yells.

"Well it makes sense, Sheldon knows a lot about law, I dare say he could pass the bar exam if he wanted too." Amy tells him attempting to pull away again.

"I could pass any exam about any bar! That little fucker gets whatever he wants! What do I get? jack shit!" George is breathing heavy and he chugs what is left in his cola bottle. Crushing the empty plastic bottle in his hand and wiping his mouth nosily afterwards.

"Not an exam about bars, I am sure you would excel at bar is the test you must take in order to become a lawyer. " Amy says getting frightened as the grip on her arm tightens

" They don't know the truth about him! But I do, I will get even someday! Maybe, I will just take, something that is his!" George says pulling Amy closer

Just then the door swings open and Mary and Sheldon walk inside. George releases from his grip finally trying to look innocent. Amy jumps up and hugs Sheldon tightly around the middle not caring what he or anyone else thinks. At this moment he is her knight in shining armor, saving her from the evil ogre. That thought makes her think of their racy dungeons and dragons session and she turns redder than before. Sheldon pats her on the back and returns the hug.

"What has gotten into you?" he asks.

"I just missed you, I was worried, you were gone awhile." Amy says not wanting to tattle on his brother in front of Mary.

"Oh don't worry about her, we were just getting to know each other a little better." George says drunkenly.

"George Cooper Jr.! have you been drinking! You know this is a dry house!" Mary shouts pointing an accusing finger at her son.

"Oh God! what did he do to you, have you been violated in any way! " Sheldon says wrapping a protective arm around her shoulder.

"Don't worry Shelly! She is frigid just like you!" George says giggling.

"Come on Amy let's go " Sheldon says leading her out of the room and steering them into his bedroom.

They hear Marys continues her verbal assault on George. If he makes any reply to her tirade it is not audible.

"You know we have the wake tonight! You best sober up pal, because I am not bringing a drunken oaf." Mary pauses presumably to take a breath. "You would dishonor, the memory of your grandmother, who loved you, by getting shit faced!"

Sheldon closes the door blocking the rest of the argument out, Amy collapses on the chair by his desk. She almost feels like crying, she had been truly frightened, but she does not want to cause problems in the family.

"Boy she is mad, I have only heard my mother swear a handful of times in my lifetime ."

"Well he dereves it." Amy says huffily

"Amy, did he do anything to you?" Sheldon asks.

"No" Amy says but one look at him and she can tell he knows that she is not being honest. "He called me ugly and mousy, then he grabbed my arm kind of rough when I tried to leave. He was really drunk, I don't know if he meant anything by it." Amy says feeling ashamed and she doesn't know why.

"It was a mistake bringing you here." Sheldon says statement hurts worse than anything George had done.

"I'm sorry, do you want me to fly back home?" Amy says really trying to stop from crying now.

"No, I want you here with me, I guess I am being selfish." Sheldon says.

"Selfish?" Amy asks surprised.

"Yes, I knew my family is, difficult, at best. Yet I still dragged you out here for my own selfish need for comfort, I am sorry."

"No need to be sorry, remember what you told me before. We are a couple, and I like you for who you are, quirks and all. That includes your families as quirks as well." Amy reassures him.

"You may want to hold on to that thought, have no idea just how many quirks, this family has. But over the next couple of days you are about to find out" Sheldon says solemnly.


	4. Chapter 4

The wake is tonight and the family is all gathered in the living room waiting to go to the church. George is conspicuously absent from the gathering and Amy is relieved. If she never sees him again, she feels like it will be too soon. Yet seeing as though they are all under the same roof, for the time being, a run in seems inevitable.

Neighbors have been bringing food by in a steady stream all afternoon. There is a small spread laid out but no one feels like eating. With the exception of George Jr. the Cooper clan is an exceptionally slim group of people. Amy feels like that is not by accident, her stomach is growling again but she does not want to embarrass herself by being the only person eating. Missy picks up a brownie from a plate sniffs it and gives it a half hearted nibble.

"Not as good as Memaw's." she sighs throwing the rest of the brownie in the trash. "Everything reminds me of her right now."

"If you stopped eating food, that Memaw made better, you would never eat again." Sheldon tells her.

"Oh, Shelly you speak the straight gospel! There was not a recipe in the world ,that the woman could not master." Mary says nodding her head.

"The cookie care packages she sent me are the only thing that kept me from wasting away into nothingness, that summer I spent in Germany." Sheldon says bending his head down into his chest.

"I remember that, she was so worried her little moonpie would not take well to that crazy foreign food'" Missy says to Sheldon in a voice one would use on a toddler.

"Memaw, never did trust foreign food, took us forever to get her to try TeX-mex ,even then she was mighty cautious." Mary says.

"Do you remember the time Memaw went on that cruise and she complained that the food was too fancy?" Missy asks.

"Oh lord yes! What did she say again Missy?" Mary asks.

"Well I asked her how her cruise went and she says": "It was just fine honey except the food was to high and mighty."

"So I say Memaw, what in the world did they serve?" and she says and Missy starts giggling so much she almost can't continue. Missy stops gains composure then in an exaggerated southern drawl Missy says :

" Chi-kin, mashed pertaters, corn bread."

" I said Memaw that don't sound fancy." and she says.

"Well honey weren't what it was but how a fancy they served it." Mary and Missy start laughing. Amy looks cautiously at Sheldon he looks stoic, she hopes he is holding up alright.

"Remember when we bought Memaw the computer for Christmas so she could Skype with Sheldon?" Mary asks laughing.

"She made us disconnect it because she didn't want no pre-verts a watching her on the interwebs." Missy says laughing.

"Stop it! both of you! This isn't funny! Memaw is gone and all you can do is make fun of how sweet and simple she was!" Sheldon says getting up.

"Sheldon we are not making fun of her, we are celebrating her life, remembering the good times honey!" Mary says.

"Well remind me not you invite you to my funeral! Remember the good times!" Sheldon chokes out barely able to contain the sob stuck in his throat. He so upset that he leaves the room and storms into his bedroom. Mary rises to follow him but Amy stops her.

"Let me, he just needs some time." Amy says getting up and following Sheldon. His door is shut and she knocks tentatively, "Sheldon, its Amy can I come in."

"Yes." he says muffled inside. Amy opens the door and makes sure to shut it tight behind her. Sheldon is laying curled in the fetal position on the bed his arms wrapped around a pillow. Amy makes her way over to him, unsure what to do. Amy wishes she could wrap him up in her arms and make him feel better, but she does not want to risk making him feel worse. So she sits on the edge of the bed quietly

"Amy, I miss her, and I feel so guilty, that I did not get to see her before she was gone." Amy risks it and strokes his hair lightly.

"I know, Sheldon, I know, it is OK" Amy says continuing to stroke his hair she knows nothing she can say will make it better.

"Its not OK! She was sick, and she was so worried about how I would react that she would not let anyone tell me. I could of had more time with her." Sheldon looks up at her and his blue eyes are shining with tears, his thick black lashes wet with tears. Amy has never seen him cry like this before, get upset yes, let out a sob yes, but real tears is a first for her. Seeing him like this just breaks her, he can reject her if he wants but she is going to try and give him comfort.

"Scoot over." Amy tells him and he wiggles over Amy removes the pillow from his arms and replaces it with her body. Amy wraps her arms around him and he rests his head on her chest and sobs. Amy rubs his back and let's him cry until she can feel his breathing even.

"Thank you" he says into her sweater.

"Don't mention it." Amy says.

"I never cry, I have not cried like that since I was very young." he says lifting his head up and looking into her eyes.

"It is OK to cry, it is OK to feel how you are feeling." Amy reassures him trying to not get distracted by the intensity of his gaze. How through the tears his blue eyes are shining like sapphires.

"Is it?" Sheldon asks almost sadly before moving in and kissing her on the lips. Soft and light at first, then it builds Amy is so stunned she does not know how to react. Amy kisses him back shaping her lips around his. This kiss is different from the others they have shared, it is hungry, desperate even. Amy slyly maneuvers her tongue into his mouth and is rewarded with a soft moan from him. Sheldon reciprocates and Amy is awash in sensation, together discover a new plane of existence. All to soon though Sheldon pulls away. " I am sorry." he says hanging his head.

"No need to be sorry, are you ready to go back out there?" Amy asks. Sheldon shakes his head yes. They rise Amy adjusts her clothing and smoothes down her hair she looks at Sheldon and sees he is making adjustment with his pants and she blushes. They walk back out into the living room and everyone is silent. They have learned from years of experience to be cautious around an emotional Sheldon.

"I am sorry, there is a chance that I may have overreacted,." Sheldon says to his mother and sister.

"Honey, don't you worry about it! We all miss her, and we all have different ways of showing it." Mary assures him. "Now it is time to go to the church, are you alright to go?" Sheldon shakes his head yes.

Missy has left Ayden with a friend and insists that she sit shotgun in Mary's car. Sheldon and Amy get into the backseat, Sheldon crosses his arms testily.

"You know that I get carsick if I do not sit up front." he tells Missy.

"As your twin I know and you know that I do to. With baby number two on the way there is more of a chance that ,I will barf than you." Missy says twisting around in her seat.

"You are well past your first trimester, the chance of you still having morning sickness…" Missy cuts him off by twisting around again and pretending to retch into his lap.

"Fine! You win! Mother, do you see this juvenile display!" Sheldon pleads to Mary.

"Children!" Mary chides looking into the rearview mirror. " Ya'll are in your thirties! I should not have to break up fights. Do not make me turn this car around!"

"I will behave if Shelly does." Missy says sticking her tongue out at him, when Mary is not looking. Sheldon responds by scrunching up his face sticking his hands in his ears and wiggling them in a moose gesture. Amy cannot help breaking down and giggling, the gesture is just so… un-Sheldon.

They make it to the church without further incident, they are there early but it was already crowded. This is just the visitation, Amy wonders what the turnout for the funeral will be like.

"There are a lot of people here." Amy tells Sheldon quietly

"Yes, Memaw was a pillar of the community, just about everybody in town knew her. She was on the ladies auxiliary, she was on the list of church deacons. Not to mention all of the family that is here today." Mary says overhearing them.

The church itself is rather large, in her mind Amy had been picturing a quaint country chapel. This structure looks more like a YMCA complete with an aluminum gymnasium tacked on. They enter through the front double doors the lobby is festooned with flowers and there is a large blown up picture standing in the middle. Amy is left to presume that the woman in the portrait is Memaw. Again Amy's mental image had failed her, she had always envisioned her more like her own grandmother. Tiny and frail with a cap of gray curls. The image shows a full body shot, the woman in the picture is tall and thin, with striking features. Her hair while gray, is long and swept back from her face with jeweled clip. Amy is struck by how much the woman resembles an older Missy.

"Missy, I never knew how much you and your grandmother resembled each other." Amy tells her.

"You should see a side by beside photo of both of us at my age, If no one told you different you would think it was the same person. Kind of nice to know exactly what you are going to look like when you are older." Missy tells her.

"Not exactly alike." Sheldon amends. "Memaw had green eyes, and you have blue." Missy slaps him on the shoulder and Sheldon grabs his shoulder wounded. "Owww!"

"Close enough damn it, and you are just mad because you look like uncle Stumpy." Missy hisses.

"Take that back!" Sheldon tells her angrily.

"Children!" Mary says in a warning tone. Missy gives Sheldon a haughty look and flounces into the chapel. Mary goes in after her, Sheldon and Amy follow, he is keeping his arms wrapped tightly around his chest as he walks, like he is trying to hold himself together.

The casket is in the front of the chapel there is a small group of people standing in front of it. When they move on Missy and his mother move forward to stand in front of it. Sheldon hangs back, and Amy urges him forward.

"Don't be frightened, part of the healing process will be seeing her one last time." Amy tells him.

"I am not frightened, Its just that…" Sheldon pauses trying to compose himself.

"What."

"I am not like you Amy, I don't deal with cadavers on a daily basis. I don't think I have seen a dead body since my grandfather died. When I saw him laying there in his casket, I fainted." Sheldon confesses.

"True, I have more experience working with the deceased than you do. The ones I have seen have been strangers, who I have no emotional attachment to. Seeing someone you love, like this is always hard, but I will be standing with you, I won't let you fall." Amy says.

"I hardly think you could support me if I fainted." Sheldon tells her but never the less he moves forward to join his family. Amy hangs back and let's them have a moment together.

"They did a good job, real natural, like she could almost be sleeping." Mary says holding a hanky to her mouth.

"Mama! Oh my gosh!" Missy says startled.

"What is it sweetheart." Mary asks alarmed.

"We got to call the funeral home, either they forgot it or someone, stole it!"

"What honey?"

"Memaw's ring! Her wedding ring Momma, she told me she wanted to be buried with it, and its not on her hand!" Missy says tears rolling down her cheeks. Sheldon looks at his mother concerned.

"I thought, you said you would tell her?" Sheldon asks his mother.

"Tell me what?" Missy says confused.

"Now honey, nows not the time, let's what til we are back home." Mary says patting her on the arm.

"Tell me what!" Missy says with steely determination.

"Well sugar, you see, when we went to the lawyers we discover Memaw had made some changes in her final arrangements." Mary begins.

"What do you mean changes, we talked just last month, I asked if I could have it when she was gone. She told me it had been on her finger fifty years and would be on there a hundred more." Missy says.

"Memaw left me the ring." Sheldon says simply.

"I don't understand, why would she leave it to you, you have no emotions. You don't care about anything, nothing means anything to you, its all just there to serve you a purpose and nothing else. Memaw knew how much that ring meant to me." Missy says hurt.

"Now, is not the time to discuss this!" Mary hisses at her. "It is tacky to talk about, who got what at her visitation! Now I was going to sit ya'll down and tell ya'll everything tomorrow now hush up! We still gotta do the receiving line, George Jr. is back at the house sleeping one off. I won't have ya'll a fussing and fighting!" Mary says angrily.

"Your right momma, I am sorry," Missy says but there is a quiet determination in her voice, Mary can tell the discussion is far from over.

"I am impressed Sheldon, you handled the rest of the evening very well. You even shook hands with everyone in the receiving line." Amy is even more surprised that Mary insisted that she be a part of it. Amy tried to sit down, but Mary pulled her right back up . She was sandwiched between Sheldon and his Uncle Stumpy shaking people's hands all night. Amy thinks most people assumed she was one of Sheldon's distant cousins. The few people she got to explain who she was too, looked at her like she was a crazy person. That was with her standing next to a man with one arm and a lazy eye ,wearing a button down Tasmanian Devil shirt.

"I know, I will probably pay for it with a violent cold before we even get on the plane back home." Sheldon says already sounding stuffy.

"Your Uncle Stumpy, is an interesting character, he has some rather strong opinions." Amy says trying to stifle a laugh remembering how she had been cornered by the man and regaled with numerous conspiracy theories.

"My Uncle Stumpy, is insane, did he tell you how the president is switching all his medications with thought control drugs. Or did he tell you how aliens abducted him in the eighties and stole his idea for the movie E.T.?" Sheldon asks.

"Both actually, and a few others as well, I am exhausted ." Amy says laying her head on the pillow it has been an overwhelming day.

"Amy?" Sheldon says tentatively.

"Yes?"

"Is the trundle uncomfortable?"

"Its not as comfortable as my bed at home but I have slept on worse." Amy assures him.

"I don't think the mattress has been changed since it was purchased in 1987. It is probably filled with dust mites or bed bugs.

" Not exactly a comforting thought before bed Sheldon." Amy says.

"Maybe you ought to sleep up here with me, just in case the mattress is infected." Amy smiles into her pillow so he liked their snuggle time earlier.

"You know maybe you are right, I should probably sleep up there." Amy says.

"Of course I'm right." Sheldon says scooting over to make room for her and Amy climbs in beside him. Sheldon holds out his arms indicating he wants her to fold herself into them like earlier. Amy eagerly obliges and rests her head on his chest this time listening to the frantic drumming of his heart. Sheldon rests his hands on her back his hands making nervous circles between her shoulder blades.

"Are you alright?" Amy asks looking up at him. The only light in the room is from the glow in the dark stars, they cast his features into shadow. It almost reminds her if a photo negative all she can see of him is the sharp planes of his face, the angle of his jawline, and how his eyes, seem to be boring into her own.

"Its hard to say." he says running his hand down from her shoulder blades down to the small of her back. He scoots closer to her and Amy's eyes widen in surprise, he is obviously aroused. Amy has read about this in one of her journals, in response to grief, the body tries to seek out pleasure to numb the pain. Amy is torn, she so desperately wants to be the balm that soothes his tortured soul. Then again she does not want him to regret anything, it is one thing to be in their insular world in Texas. Where it felt like it was them against the world. Soon enough they would be back in California and it would break her heart if he acted like none of this had happened.

"Sheldon…"Amy begins, refusal on her lips but he stops it with kiss.

" Please…" he moans softly against her lips, and she is lost. Amy kisses him back letting her hands roam down his back. Feeling each individual muscle and bone mapping his physiology with her hands Amy grows bolder has the kisses deepen hand his hands take greater inventory of her flesh. Amy let's her hands roam downward seeking the intruder that has been poking against her nightgown since she first climbed into bed with him. At first he his shocked and his body stiffens, then relaxes as Amy's hands do their work. Amy first strokes him through his clothes, then as his breathing takes on a labored quality she grows bolder. Reaching through the flaps of his pajamas she takes him gently into her hand. The feel of it surprises her, she has never held a man in her hand before she expected it to be completely rigid ,and it is but it also soft and silky. Amy teases the malleable skin, rolling her hand upwards and they down again. She is rewarded with a moan and Sheldon burying his face into her neck. Amy tests it again, gaining confidence with each stroke, his breathing is heavy in her ear as he nips and kisses her neck. Sheldon makes a noise like a strangled sob and Amy stops her ministrations.

"Why'd you stop?" he pleads.

"I just thought I might be doing it wrong." Amy whispers.

"No, I assume that you are doing everything extremely right." Sheldon says kissing her again deeply and pushing himself against her side. "Not that, I would know though, I have never been touched like that before, not even by my own hand."

This statement sends warring sensations and emotions throughout Amy. On one hand her libido seems to be enflamed, thinking that her hand his the only one to illicit such a response from him. On the other hand her brain feels like it has been doused in ice water, she is taking advantage of him. Amy felt like she was using his vulnerability at this moment to get what she wanted.

"Sheldon, we should stop." Amy sighs

"Why, I thought that this what you wanted?" Sheldon asks confused.

"It is, more than anything, but I feel like I am taking advantage of you. I mean you have never even touched yourself before. I just feel like that maybe your brain is seeking out a release of dopamine and serotonin in response to your grief. If you still feel like this when we are back home well then we can think about it again." Amy says kissing him gently on the fore head.

"That sounds reasonable, maybe I am acting a bit out of character. Thank you Amy as usual your brain seems to understand the few things that are out of my grasp. For the record I never said, ahem, for lack of a better term, that I never touched myself at all, I just said not like that." Sheldon says.

"How do you touch yourself?" Amy asks curiously.

"Amy, that is kind of personal." Sheldon sighs.

"Fair enough, I will stop prying. Do you want me to go back into the trundle?" Amy asks him.

"No, like I said there could be bed bugs and dust mites down there." Sheldon says.

"Very well, Good night Sheldon." Amy says turning around.

"Good night, Amy." Sheldon says wrapping his hand around her waist.


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own the characters of the Big Bang Theory. **

That night Sheldon has a dream, Memaw has him on her lap, rocking in the rocking chair like they used to when he was little. It seems so real, he can feel the breeze from the open window, smell his Memaw's perfume. Sheldon looks up at her and she looks exactly like she used too when he was little, her hair is still brown with just a stripe of gray at the temples. Not brown Sheldon amends, chestnut, Memaw used to always say "brown is a common color, in this family our hair is chestnut."

_Memaw is reading to him a from a book, The Velveteen Rabbit, she loved that book. By the time he was three he had been able to read it by himself. Sometimes he still liked to be read too, especially by Memaw. Personally he found the book to be complete drivel. Toys could not be alive, they did not have brains, they could not talk. He hears Memaw read the line_

"_How do you become real? Does it happen all at once? Or bit by bit?"_

_"That's silly, Memaw, toys can't become real." He tells her._

_"Aww, Moonpie, sometimes you just got to let your heart believe." She tells him smoothing down his hair._

_"He thinks it is silly, because he ain't a real boy." Missy says appearing beside him. Missy always did that, try to climb on the chair with them , try to ruin the time he had with Memaw._

_"I am too real, and ain't, is not proper grammar, it is are not or is not!" Sheldon cries._

_"She is right sugar." his mom says joining Missy "Look honey, you're just clockwork." She walks over to him and touches his back. Sheldon moves his hand to where hers is and discovers a turn key, like a wind up toy._

_"I want to be real, I don't want to be a toy." Sheldon yells._

_"Honey, you said it yourself toys can't become real." his mother says her face turning dark._

_"I am __**real**__!" he cries._

"Yes you are, you are real." he hears a voice whisper.

Sheldon wakes with a start as he feels a warm hand grab his own. Amy is snuggled beside him in the bed, his body is wrapped hers like a vine. Amy still fast asleep, even in her slumber she is able to comfort him. Sheldon smooths down her hair with his free hand and rests his chin in the top of her head. Her hair always smells so good he thinks, fresh and clean without any overpowering fragrance. Sheldon drifts back off into a deep dream free sleep.

Sheldon wakes up in the morning still clinging to Amy, another part of his anatomy pressing shamelessly against her. Sheldon is horrified he does not want her to reject him like she did last night. Well not reject exactly, she had touched him like he has never been touched before. That particular memory does nothing to help correct his problem. Sheldon disentangles himself from her arms and wraps his robe tightly around himself. Maybe it is time to try one of those cold showers people are going on about.

Amy was right to stop him last night Sheldon thinks as he lets the water splash over his body. He does not know how far he would have let things go but at that point and time he had no intention of stopping. The last couple days had been a emotional rollercoaster for him.

Sheldon thinks about the nightmare he had last night, where had that come from? Perhaps, it stemmed from what his sister had said about him having no emotions. It is not the first time he has heard that, yet it is the first time it bothered him. Lately he had been working hard to show that he did have emotions. What did he have to do to show everyone he had changed? The only person who seemed to notice, the seismic shift was Amy. Then he starts thinking about last night again and he sighs, at this rate he is never going to make it out of the shower. Sheldon hears the door open and he freezes, is that Amy, did she change her mind? Sheldon does not know if the thought thrills him or terrifies him.

"I'm in here!" Sheldon calls." I thought I locked the door!" Sheldon shouts. The curtain gets yanked back and Sheldon screams in terror. He sees Missy standing in front of him holding a hairpin between her fingers.

"You did, but you grew up in this house Shelly. You know you can pop any lock with a hairpin." Missy says twirling the hairpin.

"Missy! this is completely unacceptable, I am **nude**! get out of here!" Sheldon stammers covering himself with his hands.

"Shelly, I spent nine months sharing a womb with you. Momma used to bath us together, in this same tub, you ain't got nothing, that I ain't seen before." Missy says.

"Yes, but I wager things have changed since the last time you saw them!" Sheldon says angrily and Missy rolls her eyes.

"I ain't even looking down, no one cares about your ding dong. If it makes you feel better I will turn around" Missy says.

"What would make me feel better would be for you to leave. As I think that you have no intention of doing so ,it would help if you turned around." Missy sighs and turns around.

"Is that better?" Missy asks annoyed

"You know that I don't approve of the use vulgar language but what the hell do you want?" Sheldon says shutting off the water and wrapping a towel around himself.

"I wanted to talk to you ,without Momma around to protect you." Missy tells him.

"And you thought the most appropriate time to do so was while I was in the shower?" Sheldon asks imperiously.

"It's a small house Shelly, and you seem to always be surrounded by Momma, or that little girlfriend of yours."

"Again let me voice my question, what do you want?" Sheldon says wrapping his robe around himself.

"What I want is answers, how did you do it?" Missy says angrily.

"I know what this is about, you are still mad about the ring." Sheldon says wearily.

"Still mad? I am never gonna stop being mad! All my life precious ,little moonpie has gotten everything he always wanted. You were given whatever you wanted because you would stomp and fuss if you didn't get it. If I acted like that, I was given a pop on the bottom, but you? Oh no, it was always Shelly is special! Shelly is a genius! Shelly don't understand things, like you can." Missy pauses to take a breath.

"I want to make it clear to you, that I never asked her for that ring. If I had though ,it would be none of your business. Maybe she left it to me because she thought you would trade it for a handful of beans." Sheldon tells her, his voice steely.

"I may not be a genius like you, but I am not stupid." Missy says vehemently.

"I beg to differ, now if you'll excuse me, I am leaving now." Sheldon says pushing past her and out the door.

"This isn't over!" Missy calls after him.

"Yes it is." Sheldon mumbles under his breath making his way back to his bedroom. Amy is not inside and he is disappointed, he could go for her brand of comfort right now. If Missy only knew why Memaw had given the ring to him maybe she would understand. Then again maybe she wouldn't Missy had always been rather mercurial. Sheldon gets dressed and hears the door open.

"Hello Amy, I hope you are having a better morning than I am." Sheldon says without turning around.

"I doubt you are having a worse morning than I am. My head is splitting and Mama poured the rest of my bottle down the drain. Can't even have the hair of the dog!" He hears his brother say, he whips around to face him.

"**Get out**." Sheldon says pointing to the door.

"Aww come on Shelly! I came to apologize!" George roars flopping down on his bed.

"I have nothing to say to you." Sheldon says crossing his arms in a defiant pose. George looks up at him and in the moment he looks so much like their father it's disorienting to Sheldon.

"Look, I got plastered, I don't even remember what I said! I missed the wake, I have been punished." George says.

"You may not remember but I am pretty sure that the events are etched firmly into Amy's mind, you frightened her badly."

"I don't know why, alls we were doing ,is just talking." George says picking at his nails.

"Why you even felt the need to talk to my girlfriend is beyond me. I never pestered your lady friends." Sheldon tells him.

"That's just the thing, you never cared 'bout no girls before. I guess I just wanted, to find out what the girl who finally woke up my brothers willy was like." George says laughing, Sheldon goes crimson. His anger with his family has reached the boiling point. Sheldon is about to release a diatribe on his brother when Amy appears in the doorway.

"Oh, I am sorry, I will go, you guys look busy." Amy says turning to leave.

"No please, stay." Sheldon says ,never more grateful for her presence. "George was just leaving." he says pointedly George rises languidly and heads for the door.

"As I was just telling Shelly, I am sorry for yesterday .He has the crazy idea that you might be scared of me now." George tells Amy standing over her in the doorway.

"No, its fine." Amy says sidling past him to enter the room, not wanting to talk to him longer than she has too.

"That a girl!" George says slapping Amy on the bottom hard. George laughs at the stunned expression on her face. Sheldon look livid, his hands balled at his sides, like he is about to take a swing at him. "Wow, settle down, Shelly! I was just kidding around!" George says feigning innocence.

"Leave.. now.." Sheldon says between clenched teeth. George throws his hands up in the air in 'you got me' gesture.

"Fine, I can take a hint, Shelly never did like to share did he?" George says walking down the hall whistling a crooked tune.

"I am sorry for my brothers behavior." Sheldon says embarrassed. "He is just showing himself to be the same brute that he has always been." he sighs.

"That must be the Cooper boy special." Amy remarks, rubbing her behind and shutting the door.

"What?" Sheldon asks.

"Slapping me on the bottom." Amy tells him.

"Now that you mention it, my father used to do that to my mother all the time, particularly after a night of rest assured I will never do that to you again, I am nothing like those two." Sheldon says shivering at the thought of being compared to either his brother or his father.

"I don't mind it when you do it." Amy tells shyly, him and he gives her a surprised look but Amy changes the subject quickly. "I was talking to your mother and she says that the funeral is Saturday at noon. As you know, I purchased one way tickets here not knowing when we were going back. I have to be back at work on Monday so I am booking a flight for Sunday morning. Did you want me to book you a flight too, or are you going to want stay for awhile."

"Book me a flight as well, I have no intention of staying in this mad house without you by my side." Sheldon says absently going over to his desk and firing up his laptop. Amy looks at him stunned, she wants to run over to him and kiss his cheek. Yet she holds back, he probably does not even realize how much what he just said means to her.

Mary stands in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on breakfast. Missy stomps in and plops the baby in his highchair, and the pours herself a cup of coffee without saying a word. Sheldon walks in next stops at the sight of Missy rolls his eyes and makes like he is going to leave again. Amy touches his arm lightly and they look at each other, Sheldon makes an expression like 'very well' and sits down. George Jr. comes in last and sits down next to Amy who jumps like he just burned her and scoots her chair so close to Sheldon's she is practically in his lap. The scene is vastly different than yesterday's cozy family breakfast and it breaks her heart. Their family has weathered enough tragedy without some petty fighting to get in their way.

"Now ya'll listen up! I don't know what ya'll are fighting about, but it is no way to honor your grandmother's memory!" Mary says brandishing a spatula at the table.

"Maybe you should tell your daughter that accosting people while they shower is completely inappropriate. Or perhaps you should tell your son to stop harassing my girlfriend!" Sheldon says.

"I was not harassing no one!" George says spitting into the coke bottle in his hand.

"Oh really? What do you call slapping my ass this morning?" Amy asks him hotly then holds her hand over her mouth.

"I would not have to blindside you in the shower if you would just tell me what is going on!" Missy tells Sheldon

"Oh, come on! I was just playing with you! Not my fault if you can't take a little joke." George tells Amy reaching over to pat her arm.

"You need to keep your giant ogre hands off my woman, or so help me…" Sheldon tells George pointing at him.

"Or what string bean? You will try to use the force grip on me, like when we was kids? News flash, it didn't work then, and it ain't going to work now!" George says mockingly.

"I will have you know that, I have played many martial arts video games and I gave picked up enough to maim or injure you!"

"You want to go?" George says rising from his seat to his full height.

"Sit down George you ain't gonna fight no one! Now all of you! Shut up!" Mary yells, and George sinks back into his seat. "Ya'll listen up, you are acting like a bunch of damn fools!"

"Missy and George are the ones…" Sheldon starts but Mary cuts him off with a look.

"Georgie, I raised you better than this! If this situation were reversed and it was you bringing home a girl for the first time and Sheldon slapping her behind, well let me tell you Sheldon would be a grease stain in the driveway by now. You owe Amy and Sheldon an apology, Mr." Mary tells him.

"Sorry." George mumbles at them.

"Now Missy! Why in the hell did you think it would be OK for any reason to barge in on your brother in the shower? Shelly ain't nine years old anymore! He is a grown man and I don't care what your reasoning his that is never OK!"

"Mama, it just ain't fair!" Missy begins but Mary cuts her off.

"I am gonna talk to you in private, I was going to do this later on today but patience has never been your virtue, Come on girlie!" Mary stalks off down the hall into Missy's room and Mary follows her stamping behind like a scolded toddler. Mary shuts the door and sits on Missy's bed patting the space beside her. Mary picks up Missy's hand and studies the engagement ring on her finger. "That's a nice ring you got there on your finger. Ryan did a real good job picking it out for you."

"Yeah, probably cost him that whole first paycheck he got working on the oil rig." Missy says looking at it fondly, she misses her husband. She sent word to him about Memaw. She hopes he can get leave and come home soon.

"I remember when he asked me, since your daddy is gone, if he could have your hand in marriage. Ryan showed me that ring, he was so proud honey, and he said that the minute he saw that ring that it was yours. That he remembered the story you would tell about Memaw's ring so he got you one with sapphires. 'Cause your eyes reminded him of them jewels. Now that is a good story ain't it sugar? And it's your story, that you can pass down to Ayden and this one right here." Mary tells her touching her belly.

"What are you driving at Mama?" Missy asks.

"Honey, have you seen the way Sheldon looks at that girl? I never seen him look like that before." Mary says almost sadly and Missy smiles.

"Looks at her like she hung the moon, I catch him looking at her when he thinks she is not looking. It is funny, I never thought I would see Shelly acting like a lovesick teenager." Missy says laughing " It was pretty shocking to hear him call her his "woman" and try to fight Georgie over her."

"That's just it sweetie, I never thought I would see the day when Shelly found him somebody who likes him for just being him. Memaw never thought she would see the day come either. Used to worry her something fierce, who would be there to love Shelly when we were gone?"

"Mama, are you saying what I think you are saying?" and Mary shakes her head yes.

"It is my assumption that Memaw thought by leaving him that ring she would also be securing someone to love him, in her place, when she was gone."

"I understand now." Missy says getting up. "Come on, let's go finish breakfast, the boys are probably all getting hungry." Mary follows Missy out the door and back into the kitchen. There they see that Amy has finished breakfast for them and his holding Ayden on her hip. Sheldon and George Jr. are nowhere to be seen.

"Where are the boys?" Mary asks.

"They started fighting again, then George said they were going to go settle things out the old fashioned way and they left." Amy says setting the baby back down.

"I know where they are." Mary sighs. "Let's eat, then we'll go fetch them, maybe they work some of this nonsense out."


	6. Chapter 6

"You remember when daddy used to take us out here when we was kids?" George asks handing Sheldon a beer

Sheldon takes the beer and sits it down beside him not even bothering to open it. They are sitting on the rickety dock of the lake their father used to take them too. The dock had been weathered twenty years ago, now it looked down right condemned. That hadn't stopped George Jr. from walking to its edge and sitting down with his case of beer.

"Yes, some of my most traumatic memories were forged at this godforsaken mud hole." Sheldon tells his brother,reluctantly joining him on the edge of the dock.

Sheldon was nervous,with his brother, at first he thought they were going to fight. Then is brother made him get into the car and refused to tell him where they were going. Sheldon was worried that he might drive him down to Mexico and abandon him. The tension did not ease when he saw where they were heading. When he was young his father had tried in vain to teach him how to fish. He would take George and him out to this tiny man made lake and attempt to make him be outdoorsy. Most of the time he would take a book with him and read while his brother and father fished. Sheldon remembers that the last time they came his father had tossed his calculus book in the lake .

The memory taking a sepia tinted quality, over twenty years ago now but he can still hear the roar of his fathers voice.

_"God damn it, Sheldon get your fucking nose out of that sissy ass book! How can I teach you to be a man when alls you want to do is stare at numbers all god damn day!" Sheldon can almost feel his father looming over him, smell his unquie scent of stale whiskey, tobacco, and brut aftershave._

_"Numbers are not sissy, I have no intention of ever becoming a man like you, I am going to be a man of science. In that case this book will help me more than learning to eviscerate an earthworm with a hook and try to catch a micropterus salmoides."_

_"You know what? you little shit, catch this." With that his father ripped the book from his hands and tossed it unceremoniously into the lake. He can still remember how it lay on top of the water for a second waiting to be rescued. Then how when he laid flat on the dock and stretched out to try and reach it, how it sunk down. He did not cry, he never cried but he did not speak another word until they were home. His father claimed he felt horrible about it, on the way home they stopped at Wal-Mart and he bought him a Action figure._

"That's odd, those are some of my best memories, Me you and Dad bonding out here." George says taking a deep gulp from his beer.

"Maybe that's because Dad actually liked you, the only reason I was there was because mother made him take me. Then the only reason she made him take me is so she could go have girl time with Missy. After the laser fiasco I was not allowed to stay home alone."

"Oh yeah, you almost burned the shed down! Dad liked you, hell he liked you more than he liked me in the end. Used to always tell me what a screw up I was, why couldn't I try to be more like you. I mean by the time he died, I was eighteen and you were fourteen, I was still trying to graduate high school and you had a college degree. I had gotten my first misdemeanor and you were working on becoming a doctor. " George tells him draining his beer and popping open another one.

"Maybe in the end he saw the error in his judgment but when we were children I assure you it was the other way around. Why don't you have friends like George? Why can't you play peewee football like George did? George never tries to build high powered lasers in the shed." Sheldon says bitterly, shaking his head.

"Drink a beer, you'll feel better." George says handing him another one that Sheldon sets beside the other one.

"I don't drink." Sheldon tells him.

"Why the hell not? You mean to tell me that you ain't ever had a drink before?" George asks.

"I never said that, I choose not to imbibe alcohol as a general rule. For your information I have been drunk five times, each more unpleasant than the last."

"Well, you're about to make it six! Humor your old brother OK ? This is how men hash out their problems!" George yells slapping his brother on the shoulder. Sheldon looks at him and sees he is not going to relent.

"Very well, cheers." Sheldon says opening up the beer and clinking it against his brothers.

Amy sits nervously in the back of Marys car, she hopes Sheldon is OK. Any had wanted to leave to find them immediately but Mary was in no hurry. In fact Mary seems to be taking an extra long time getting ready on purpose. Amy tried to call Sheldon but to her dismay his phone was still in the bedroom.

"Don't be worried, sugar! Them boys are just **fine**!" Mary says catching sight of Amy's worried expression in the rearview mirror.

"If you say so." Amy sighs,

"Don't worry." Ayden tells her reaching out a chubby hand to her, his baby lisp making the 'R's sound like 'W's.

"Alright Ayden, I won't." Amy tells him. Mary pulls into a shopping center and pulls in front of a nail salon "Why are we stopping?" Amy asks concerned.

"I don't know about you but my nails need a fixin'. With the family dinner tonight and the funeral in two days I am going to need a fresh coat of paint on these suckers." Mary says getting out of the car.

"Good, idea Mama, I can't remember the last time I got these nails fixed. Look at this one, I just about plucked it clean off, worrying so much." Missy says holding out her pinky finger with a pouty look. Missy opens the back door and releases Ayden from his car seat.

"What family dinner? What about Sheldon and George?" Amy says aggravated.

"Well all the extended family is all coming over tonight for dinner . We haven't had all the cousins together in a real long are all dying to met Sheldon's lady friend that we have been talking so much about." Mary tells her

"If Sheldon is still in one piece by dinner tonight." Amy grumbles.

"Oh honey, like I said they are going to be just fine! Maybe hashing things out a bit will be good for them. Now come one and get your nails done with us and quit a fretting." Mary says disappearing into the shop, Missy following after her. Amy sighs, if you can't beat 'em join them she thinks to herself getting out of the car.

"Mama, what do you think of this color? Hot candy apple?" Missy asks holding out a bottle of red nail polish.

"Well sugar, that's just fine if you want to show up looking like a harlot. Red ain't no color for a funeral." Mary tells her.

"This one then Mama?" Missy says holding out a bottle of black, laughing.

"Now, you quit your fooling around, at a funeral you wear nude or light pink, a respectful color." Mary tells her selecting her color and sitting down.

"I would hate for my nails to be disrespectful." Missy says handing the girl a bottle of pale pink nail polish. Missy sets Ayden on the floor beside her and hands him a board book from her purse. He sits down quietly and begins reading it, he really is a remarkably well behaved child. Amy picks out a nice nude color not wanting to disobey Mary.

"Do you get your nails done often?" Missy asks her looking at Amy's hands. Truth be told it has been awhile since she pampered herself with a manicure. Amys nails were clean and neatly trimmed but not polished. Really if Penny did not invite her out to get one it was not something she thought about.

"Not very often, I had never gotten my nails done before at all prior to my meeting Sheldon." Amy tells her.

"Really? Sheldon never struck me as the kind of guy that would care about a girls nails." Missy says.

"Oh, he isn't, in fact once I got them painted silver on a whim ,and he made me remove the polish because my nails were to distracting. No I was speaking about how without Sheldon I would have never met Penny. She is the one who first convinced me to go with her to a salon."

"Penny, is such a nice girl! I call her all the time to check up in Shelly, although now I suppose I should be calling on you." Mary tells her.

"I liked Penny when I met her, she was a real sweet girl. Better than those other weirdos he was hanging out with. Is he still friends with that tiny little boy that kept hitting on me, and that other one that can't talk to girls?" Missy asks.

"Yes, although Howard wouldn't be hitting in you anymore, he is married to my friend Bernadette. Raj, the other one, can finally speak to women, he actually has a steady girlfriend." Amy tells her.

"Well that is just more proof that the lord answers prayers!" Mary tells her.

"Let me ask you another question, and I hope you don't take offense." Missy says to Amy.

"What?" Amy asks wearily.

"Why are you dressed like that? Its 'bout a hundred degrees out there and you are dressed for autumn in the north." Missy asks.

"Yes, well, my mother used to tell me that conservative layers were a girls best friend. Although truth be told I am regretting my choice of nylons today." Amy tells her, feeling her legs already getting sweaty and itchy.

"You know what Mama let's take Amy shopping! Find her some stuff more appropriate for June in Texas!" Missy says excited.

"That is an excellent idea! I have been worried the girl might swoon from heat exhaustion at any minute." Mary says

"No, that's not necessary, besides we got to find Sheldon and George." Amy says annoyed.

"Oh pish posh! We got some time, it will be fun." Mary says.

"Let us have a little girl bonding time, and let them have some boy time!" Missy tells her.

"But what if they are killing each other?" Amy asks incredulously

"Honey, we would have heard **sirens** by now!" Mary tells her laughing, and Amy does not know if she is joking or serious.

"That's a comforting thought." Amy mumbles succumbing to the will of the formidable team of Missy and Mary.

"So I was hooking up with this broad , her name was Crystal, she was staying in Decatur Georgia. Really sweet girl, nice tits, could have brought her home to mom, all that shit. I only pass through Decatur about twice every month, if I am lucky. So I also had this little slice in Louisville Kentucky, not nearly as hot, kind of trashy really, but I pass through Louisville more often…"

"One question?" Sheldon interupts "Why are you telling me this?"

"I was getting to the point, you see the broad in Louisville was a little sneaky thing. Got into my pants while I was sleeping, found out about the girl in Decatur. Called her a cryn' told her everything, and now I ain't got anyone. That was a month before Memaw died, my whole life is going to shit."

"Maybe you should not have been having coitus with two ladies at once. Then it seems your problems would be minimized by a great deal."

"Yes Captain Obvious! That's what I am saying! Shit! I thought maybe Crystal was going to be the girl I married. Mama is always getting on me to settle down, tie down some stakes. I just went and fucked things up like I usually do."

" I can't imagine the hassle in trying to juggle two women. For that matter, I can't imagine ever wanting another woman ,Amy is the only girl I have ever dated. " Sheldon tells him draining the beer in his hand to take the sting out of his admission.

"So you were a virgin before her? You were a little old but hell, good for you, maybe if I could'a married my first, things would be different. Angela Holmes, she was the whole package ,of course they don't let you get married at fifteen years old!"

"I am still a virgin." Sheldon tells him popping the tab on another beer. George spits out his beer and wipes his mouth.

"What the hell Sheldon! You got to get on that !What's the problem, Amy making you wait til you put a ring on it? Is she real religious, I can see it she looks the type."

"No, if anything Amy has been pursuing the physical side and I have been putting the brakes on. Amy views on religion are the same as my own, another reason we are so compatible with one another."

"Not that damn compatible! Have you ever thought that maybe you just don't like girls and that's why y'all aren't doing it? At this Sheldon gives him a look of pure contempt.

"Or does your willy not work? You got the erectile dysfunction or something? You know that they make pills for that now. I got a guy can get you some stuff from Mexico make it stiff for a week." Sheldon drains the rest of this beer and rounds on his brother.

"I like girls very much, and virility is not the issue!" Sheldon says angrily.

"Well what is the issue ,brother?" George asks.

"You know sex is not the answer to everything, it seems to have brought you nothing but trouble! Not that it is any of your business, but Amy is the only, person, thing, or object that I have ever been sexually attracted too! I think that says a lot more than rutting on her like an animal, exchanging bodily fluids!" Sheldon says hotly.

"I am just saying a good rutting, might do her some good. Loosen her up a bit! Why did you even met a girl ,if you had no interest in doing what girls are there for doing?"

"As far as meeting her, my friends signed me up for online dating, then blackmailed me into a date with her. I was so mad at them, I thought I would never forgive them for putting me in such a foolhardy situation. Now I don't think, I could thank them enough for bringing her to me." Sheldon says hanging his head.

"I still don't know why you even want to keep around. Just cut her loose let her find another online dude that wants to give her some ." George tells him.

"George, I know this might be hard for you to understand, as you equate the act of coitus as part and parcel with love. So I will try to explain it to you the best I can, though sometimes I don't understand it myself." Sheldon pauses unsure how to voice what he is feeling. Unsure whether he should voice what he is feeling. George does not deserve an explanation, but the alcohol is making him bold.

"I'm all ears man, and all we have is time." George says urging him on.

"I love Amy, she is as much a part of me, as anything about me now. I love her so much that it scares me. I did not think that love existed before her. I spent my whole life thinking all forms of physical contact were repellant. Before I met Amy I could barely shake someone's hand without finding it abhorrent." Sheldon feels like he is rambling now but there is no stopping now. Sheldon takes a deep breath and continues.

"Then I met her and she broke through all of that. We hold hands, we hug, we kiss, and yes eventually when I am ready we will have coitus." Sheldon tells him.

"Oh man! that is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard! Give me a hug!" George wraps him up in a bear hug, Sheldon pats his back awkwardly, waiting to be released.

"See looky here ,sugar! I told you there was nothing to be worried about!" George releases Sheldon and stare up at his mother stupidly.

"How did you know where we were?" George asks.

"Cause honey, you are just like your daddy. This little fishing hole is where he went a' running off to when things got bad. Also just like your daddy I see that you have been drinking more than your fair share." Mary says surveying the scene, the dock is layered in empty cans. "And I know that Sheldon did not help you with any of this."

"Actually mother, I helped a great deal." Sheldon says getting unsteadily to his feet, he staggers over to Amy noting the change in her appearance. "What, happened to you?" he asks.

"Your mother and sister took me shopping." Amy tells him, she does not think that the change is that drastic. She purchased a couple of items a lighter black dress for Saturday and this little number, a deep purple sundress. It is a lighter material than she normally wears, with more cleavage than she is used to showing. Amy is also wearing a loose knit cropped summer sweater for modesty.

"It looks good, very pretty, it just makes you look different." Sheldon tells her his voice wavering.

"Good Lord in heaven! Did you get him drunk George!" Mary says angrily.

"This is not his first time getting drunk! This is his sixth time getting drunk so you can't be mad!" George tells her.

"I don't care if its his hundredth time! You know the boy has a delicate constitution!" Mary says.

"You got that right, better let him ride with the windows down and be prepared to go through the carwash." Amy tells her.

"OK here's what we are going to do, Missy you drive George and his truck back and I will take the rest on home." Mary tells her.

"I want to go with mama!" Ayden wails grabbing on to Missy's leg.

"Honey there ain't no room in Uncle Georgie's truck for your seat."

"That's OK Missy, little bugger can ride in the front. I will ride in the bed, might help me sober up a bit." George says already staggering to the bed of his truck.

"Fine, I don't think that's the safest place but what do I know." Missy sighs getting the car seat out and transferring it into the truck.

"Alright Mister, get in here." Amy says ushering Sheldon to the passenger side of Mary's car and opening the door.

"No, I want to ride in the back with you!" Sheldon pleads, sounding every bit the petulant toddler that Ayden had.

"I thought you got carsick in the back?" Amy mumbles to herself shutting the door and moving him to the back of the car. Sheldon settles in and leans against the window his face smushed against the glass.

"Alright kids! All buckled in! Let's go!" Mary says firing up the car and backing out of the gravel parking lot. The car swivels around ,she turns to get out of the lot and Sheldon hastily rolls down the window and vomits noisily.

"Told you, that you would need a car wash." Amy tells Mary.

"Does he get like this often?" Mary asks

"Oh, no! I have only seen him like this once, right after he stopped studying string theory." Amy reassures her.

"I'm sad." Sheldon says flopping his body sideways onto Amy's shoulder.

"I know Shelly bean! We all are, we all miss her something awful." Mary tells him looking in the rearview mirror.

"Amy make me feel better." he says sitting up and burying his face info her chest, reminiscent of yesterday,only Amy is missing her protective layers. His face is buried in the flushed skin of her chest. His warm breath caressing her sensitive flesh, it feels intimate. Too intimate too be happening in the backseat of his mothers car. Amy brushes her hand against his hair and he looks up at her. "I love you, Amy " he tells her.

"I love you ,too." Amy tells him.

"Aww, y'all are just too sweet!" Mary calls from the front trying to wipe a tear from her eye without being noticed. This is what was missing from her memories of his adolescent she thinks. With Missy and George it seems like she was always carting them from one date to another. Watching them shyly hold hands through the rear view mirror, stopping back seat make out sessions. Sheldon never did any of that, she carted him from lecture hall, to lecture hall, watching him bury his nose in a book. Even though he is drunk as a skunk it is nice to see her little boy loosened up. Sheldon sits up, its like he momentarily forgot they were in a car driven mother.

"My tummy hurts." he says resting his head on Amy's shoulder again.

"Not surprising, you did not eat any breakfast and you have been drinking beer in the hot sun all morning."

"I know, I had three whole beers, George forced me! That's how men in Texas hash things out." Sheldon tells Amy solemnly.

"Well we need to get you home and let you rest, the day is not over yet." Amy tells him but he is already dozing off against her shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok, I will own to it I got wacked out poo brain after last weeks Prom Episode and have not been able to finish this chapter. It was all "how will this even compare" as I sighed and watched the big moment 100 times in a row. I started writing this before I knew about the ILY and that was going to be a big plot point, him telling Mary but Amy now knowing. I have reworked some things so I think it will all come out just fine, their just be more coitus than I was planning. Does anyone object?**

_Sheldon is sitting on the dock again, staring into the water. The water looks different, not the murky greenish brown it should be. The water is crystal clear and deep turquoise like a postcard. He hears the screech of a bird overhead and looks up, the sky is as crystal clear as the water. Sheldon feels a wet splash on his lap and sees the calculus book, so long ago cast in the lake, resting there. Only the book does not look like a book that has been waterlogged at the bottom of a lake for twenty years. It looks brand new, yet it is wet. The water is repelling off its cover in beads like a freshly waxed car._

_Sheldon looks around and sees a mermaid far way enough ,to make out its shape without any details. Somehow he knows that the mermaid is responsible for the books recovery. Sheldon calls out a thank you to the figure. The shadowy figure swims towards him, gliding gracefully on the water. The mermaid reaches him and splashes onto the dock, and he is shocked to see that it is Amy. Beautiful and gleaming in the sunlight, her long dark hair barely covering her naked breasts. Amy's mermaid tail is magnificent, opalescent , and glinting blue and purple sparkles in the bright sunlight._

_"Amy, why didn't you tell me you were a mermaid." He asks her._

_"Sheldon, this is my true form, I was a person for you for far too long. It is time I joined my people now."_

_"What will I do without you?" Sheldon asks her._

_"Maybe the answer is in the book, I found it just for you." Amy says leaning over him places both her hands on the book on his lap._

_Then she kisses him, and it starts out like a normal kiss then it grows. Sheldon brushes her hair off her breasts and cups them both in his hands. They feel full, soft and warm, Sheldon gently squeezes her breasts feels her nipples harden against his hands. Amy moans against his mouth as his hands explore her body. Sheldon kisses her deeper, his tongue exploring the depths of her mouth. Amy slides the book off his lap placing it beside him. Sheldon tries to hide his excitement but she already has it in her hands. Sheldon starts to take off his pants, he wants her, he needs her right now._

_"How are we going to do this? " he asks between kisses "Now that you have a mermaid tail, can you change back?" Amy stops kissing him and looks at him frightened._

_"I am sorry, Sheldon we can't do this! I have to go I don't belong here anymore." Then she dives into the water which turns immeasurably murky and deep._

_"Don't go! Don't leave me!" Sheldon calls laying down on the dock searching for any sign of her. The last he sees of her is a flick of tail in the distant horizon._

"Sheldon."

"Don't go Amy! We can make it work! I will rent you out a tank at SeaWorld!"

"Sheldon, wake up, you are dreaming."

Sheldon's eyes snap open and he is back in his childhood bedroom, he is fully clothed laying on the top of the sheets. Amy is sitting beside him on the edge of the bed.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asks her groggily.

"About three hours, it is time to get ready now though. Big family dinner tonight. How's your head?" Amy asks smirking at him.

"Not great." he admits and she hands him two aspirin and a glass of juice.

"You know, you talk in your sleep?" Amy tells him coloring slightly.

"Leonard has told me as much. Have I been saying anything interesting?" Sheldon asks taking the pills and draining the juice glass.

"Last night you were crying, saying you were a real boy. Then this afternoon you called out my name and begged me not to go. Then you told me you would rent me out a tank at SeaWorld. To which I don't know whether I should be complimented or offended."

"Complemented, I dreamt you were a mermaid . You said that you had to join your people. Oh! and you found the calculus book my dad tossed in the lake." Sheldon tells her omitting the kiss.

"Do you get nightmares often?" Amy asks him.

"This wasn't a nightmare, it started out rather pleasant at first, the it turned unpleasant at the end. What were you saying about a family gathering tonight." Sheldon says wanting to change the subject. Thinking about his dream, seeing Amy in that particularly revealing dress is distracting him.

"Apparently we are going to one of your uncles houses where all your extended family will be gathered for a pig pulling? I don't quite know what that is." Amy tells him.

"Pig picking, is the term you are looking for, my uncle has a converted oil drum that he uses as a portable smoker. He cooks a whole pig makes barbeque and other various types of meat and the family unites in mutual gluttony." Sheldon tells her rolling his eyes.

"I thought barbeque was just hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill?"

"Oh, hold on little lady, in East Texas people take their barbeque very seriously. My Memaw would be fit to be tied if she heard you call anything other than chopped up pork barbeque. Although you are right the term as different meanings in other regions of the United States."

"I will try and remember that, anything else I should know before we go?" Amy asks him.

"No, because we are not going." Sheldon tells her getting up from the bed and heading to his desk where his laptop is set up. He opens it up and begins working on it.

"Why not?" Amy asks disappointed, she was looking forward to meeting the rest of his family without the sadness of a funeral event. Amy had thought Sheldon would want to show her off to his family maybe he was embarrassed by her she thought ruefully. Mary had warned her that he would be reluctant to go, and she also told her how to get him to go.

"I have no desire for you to see exactly how rustic my roots are." Sheldon says absently as he scrolls through his email.

"Come on Sheldon, it will be fun, and if you remember correctly I already met a great deal of them yesterday." Amy says walking over to him and perching on the edge of his desk.

"Yes, but my uncle did not bring his fiddle to the wake and force everyone to square dance." Sheldon says not looking up from the screen.

"Your uncle has a fiddle?" Amy asks side tracked.

"Yes, he is one of the premier dance callers in all of East Texas." he sighs

"I didn't even know people still went square dancing. I thought it was just one of those southern stereotypes perpetuated in movies and on TV. Amy says intrigued.

"If I could describe my family in one phrase, that phrase would be southern stereotype." he tells her typing something out.

"Your mother will be upset if you do not go. She has been making beans literally all day and she made your favorite… peach cobbler." Amy tells him wheedling.

"I will just have some cobbler before she leaves with it." Sheldon tells her shrugging his shoulders.

"Your mother says, if you do not go, you do not get any, and this is a direct quote, 'If he ain't going to go, then I ain't making it again.'" Amy tells him imitating Mary's southern drawl, he looks over at her with his eyebrows raised surprised,Amy knows that she has him.

"Fine, we'll go! To answer your question from earlier ,do not ask why the chili does not have beans."

"Why?"

"Because as the saying here in Texas goes ,anyone who knows beans about chili knows chili ain't got no beans." he tells her getting up and heading to the door.

"Understandable, anything else?" Amy says sliding off the desk and following him .

"Keep an open mind." he says simply and not elaborating.

"Always." Amy says smiling at him and he returns the smile if a little sadly and he walks over to her and places his hand lightly on her waist. The thrill of the contact sends chills up her spine, it is insane how the smallest touch from him sets her off.

"We'll see." he says and he kisses her softly and fleetingly on the lips before walking out the door.

The sky is a brilliant pink streaked over with deep purple clouds, it was lovely. The air was still warm but without the sun beating down it wasn't stifling anymore. Amy does not know what Sheldon was so worried about his family seems very nice albeit a little coarse.

The food was very good, Amy had never had barbeque quite like that before. His uncles smoker was quite fascinating, it was huge and had started its life as an oil drum. Then his uncle had sawed it in half, added hinges to open and close it, racks for new levels of meat, and a smoke stack on top. The whole contraption was soldered onto a trailer hitch so it could be hooked to a truck and brought anywhere. The side of the smoker was painted with a pig wearing a bathing suit and sunglasses with the words "pigs 'n' paradise" painted above it. His uncle bragged that he had one four blue ribbons in various barbeque cook offs all over Texas.

Sheldon was off with one of his younger cousins who wanted him too look at a science project he was working on. Amy smiled as she remembered how Sheldon had tried to pass the job onto had relented when the boy had said Sheldon was the smartest man in the universe. One sure fire way to Sheldon's heart, she thought, stroke his ego.

Now she was listening to Missy talk to one of the girl cousins whose name was Tanya. It was like watching a ping pong match, seeing these two exchange back handed compliments to one another.

"Missy, it must be **nice** living with your **mama** again, ya'll was always so close." Tanya tells her keeping her wide blue eyes innocent but not disguising the malice in her voice.

"Oh yes, you know with my **husband**, working on the oil rig, and us saving up to buy a **house**. It just makes sense to save all that money he makes while he is away. It must be so nice to live all alone though in that cute **little** apartment." The sweetness in her voice reaching a dangerous level.

"Honey, yes! I love working in the salon, **making my own money**. I know you must love staying at home all day with that baby. Then you got another one on the way! **With your husband gone**! I just don't think I could do it." Tanya says taking a long sip of her beer.

"No, I never did see you as the mothering type, you were always so wild." Missy makes no attempt to sugarcoat this barb and Amy tries to intervene before a brawl breaks out.

"I think being a stay at home mom would be harder than working a normal job. At least at mine I can go to lunch when one of the monkey's throws a tantrum " Amy laughs nervously

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Tanya asks looking at her with her batting her heavily made up lashes.

"This is Amy, Sheldon's girlfriend, she came with him from California." Missy tells her

"I think I misheard you… Sheldon's what?" Tanya asks again looking at Amy like she is an alien. Amy extends her hand out to her and Tanya takes it, her nails are fake with rhinestones imbedded in each nail.

"Amy Farrah Fowler, and yes you heard right I am Sheldon's girlfriend." Tanya releases her hand like she has just been shocked. Tanya asks making a face like she smells something bad. Sheldon walks back up and sits beside her on the picnic bench.

"Jonathan's project his actually very good, we may have another scientist in the family. I mean it is not ground breaking but still not a bad start." Sheldon tells her not acknowledging Tanya's presence.

"Sheldon! No one told me that you finally gone through **puberty**!" Tanya says to him.

"Hi, Tanya, yes, how are you, I hear you are a barber now." Sheldon says not taking her bait.

" I am not a barber, I am a hair stylist. " Tanya says rolling her eyes.

"I fail to see the distinction, both are menial jobs trimming the dead cells off the human head. We can quibble about what to call it, but the job description remains the same." Sheldon tells her. looking at her seriously. Tanya just rolls her eyes ,gets up and walks away.

"Thank you, Shelly, you have just done what I have been trying to do for the past half hour." Missy tells him.

"I always thought you liked Tanya, when we were young you told me that you wished she had been your twin and not me." Sheldon tells her and Missy touches his arm.

"I could not be prouder that you are my twin " she tells him and he looks at her to see if she is joking. Just then his uncles voice booms over the crowd.

"Alright folks! In honor of the best lady the world has ever known we are going to have ourselves a little hoe down. We all remember how much mama loved to square dance, so let's have this dance in her honor." The family all hoots and hollers and start coupling up and heading to where the stereo is set up. His uncle takes out a fiddle from a case and starts tuning it up.

"Sheldon, come dance with me!" Missy pleads.

"No, my hoe down days are done." Sheldon tells her.

"Please, Sheldon I am sure Memaw is watching from heaven and it would just melt heart to see us dance one last time." Missy begs.

"I do not believe in heaven, and even if I did, do not think her fondest wish would be to see us do'sa'do." Sheldon tells her stubbornly.

"Come on Sheldon, I would love to see you dance, I do not think I have ever seen anyone square dance before. If I am going to see it I might as well watch one if the best do it." Amy tells him and he looks like he is considering it.

"Oh all right, but you owe me." he tells Missy and they get up to join everyone else. Missy mouths thank you at Amy, and Amy mouths back no problem and gets up to get a closer look at the dancers.

Amy watches can't help but giggle a little at Sheldon. She is sure that he is executing the dance moves being called flawlessly. It is the expression on his face that is making her laugh. While everyone else is smiling and laughing he has taken on the air of complete solemnity. With his tall lanky stature he reminds her of Ichabod Crane dancing in the old cartoon. If you took away the country music you could almost imagine them to be dancing the quadrille, like out of a Jane Austen novel. Amy finds herself wishing she could join in, as if on cue his sister dance over to her and links her arm. Forcing her out on the dance floor and links her arm with Sheldon's.

"I've got to go check on the baby. You two dance for awhile, it'll be fun." Missy says.

"I don't know how to square dance." Amy protests.

"Nonsense, you just do what's being called out, and if you do not know Shelly will show you." she says before disappearing for not the crowd.

"We don't have to dance if you don't want to " she tells him trying to follow the dance as they talk.

"You don't want to?" he asks.

"No, I want to very much, I just don't want you to feel like you have too." she tells him. Sheldon does not respond but they continue to dance, most of the moves are simple and easy to follow. There are are a few that trip her up but he bends own and explains what the call means into her ear.

"Twirl around, smile, and look pretty." he whispers into her ear has he places his hands on her hip and twirls her around. Amy looks at him and sees he is smiling indulgently at her. Sheldon thinks she looks more than pretty at that moment, she is breath taking. That dress she is wearing is almost as revealing as the one she wore for prom. Amy's décolletage is shown at such an advantage it makes him think of his dream from earlier. Sheldon's desire wells up within him ,overwhelming his other senses. All he can think about his how much he wants to kiss her and feel her body underneath his hands. All he wants to do now is get her alone. Then Sheldon remembers something that has been in his possession for awhile. Since prom night actually, tonight might be the night he finally uses it.

"What? Am I doing this wrong?" she asks looking into his eyes which have turned dark, he looks like he wants to eat her up. Amy does not know if the look means he is angry, or something else.

"No, you are doing remarkably well considering you have never been forced to do this before. I was just thinking there is something that I want to show you. It is the only reason that I used to like to come to my uncles house."

"Color me intrigued, let's go." Amy tells him and he takes her hand and leads her away from the dancers and into a little copse of woods behind the house.

Mary watches from the sidelines clapping along with everyone else. Mary is having fun watching all the dancers but her eyes are glued to only two. Mary had watched him dance with Missy earlier and it reminded her if when they were little. Missy forcing him to do something, and him just sitting there stony faced, doing it without joy.

Mary watched his face change as Amy joined in on the dance. The way her boy looked at that girl just melted her heart, she had never seen him look like that before. Sheldon's eyes lit up when he saw her, he looks at her like she is the most beautiful creature in the world. Mary never thought she would see him like this, even though he told her that he loved Amy it did not seem real until now. Mary sees him bend down and whisper something in her ear, his hand gripping her waist. Mary is struck with the significance of the action he let's her in like he has never let anyone before. Then she sees him take her hand and lead her away into the woods behind the house. Mary's smile fades. She thinks she knows exactly where he is taking her and she is not sure she wants to know why.


	8. Chapter 8

**I was not planning on updating so soon but my tablet charger broke and battery is at zero... so... I will not be able to write or post for about a week. I was able to finish this before it broke. Again I do not own these characters.**

Amy follows Sheldon into the woods, night has finally fallen. The moon is full and shedding light along their path. Amy feels inexplicably excited, even though she has no idea where they are headed. Then Sheldon stops in front of a tree that has boards nailed to its trunk. Amy looks up and sees that the boards lead to quite an elaborate tree house.

"This is the only thing I was ever jealous about with my cousins. My uncle is a carpenter and built this for them."

"You never got to have a tree house?" Amy asks him

"My dad tried, but his attempt resulted in George falling through the floor and breaking his arm. Whenever I forced to come over her for a visit I would stay up here the entire time."

"Did you come here a lot ?" Amy asks.

"More than I cared too, sometimes when my parents where having a nasty fight the would send us here. Tanya and Missy used to be best friends and would be off together doing something. Then there was Brad and he was the same age as George so they had each other. No one really seemed to pay attention to me so I would stay up here and read. My father would have to climb up and get me out when it was time to go."

"Well it is a really cool tree house, I don't think I would want to come down either." Amy says looking up and admiring it.

"Do you want to go up and see the inside?" He asks her his voice soft and husky.

"Sure." Amy says and Sheldon starts climbing the wooden rungs upward. She is glad that he is going first, she is wearing a dress she would not want him looking up it. Or would she? she thinks to herself and blushes at the idea. Amy climbs through the hatch and into the room, which is larger than she is standing up but he has to stoop down to fit, Amy however has no probelm fitting her fulll height into the room.

"I was a lot shorter the last time I was in here." he says sitting down on a small couch.

"How did they even get a couch in here?" Amy asks

"They moved it in before the put up the last side of the house with a crane, like how they move pianos into apartment buildings." Amy shakes her head impressed and Sheldon pats the couch beside him. Amy starts to feel extremely nervous her stomach is filled with butterflies. Amy sits beside him and he taps the wall behind her.

"Evidence I was here before " Amy turns around carved into the wall is Brad wuz here and the year 1987 and underneath that written in sharpie is Sheldon was here ,as well.

"No wonder ,you want a tree fort so bad. I kind of want one now too after being in here." Amy says looking around, it really is a cool place. There are even built in bookshelves with all manner of toys and games on them. Although the place does have an air of abandonment like no one had been up there for awhile.

"I'm glad you like it, I always thought of it as my fortress of solitude." Sheldon says turning to her. "Although back then, I thought being alone was the best thing in the world. You have changed my mind about that."

"Sheldon." Amy says, speechless grabbing his hand, he tugs her over closer to him and kisses her. Amy is shocked at first but quickly loses herself in the kiss. Sheldon tugs off her sweater and runs his hands down her bare arms. The action sends tingles down her spine and she sighs against his mouth. He moves his hands slowly back up her arms and up to the straps of her dress which he pushes off her shoulders. Sheldon stops kissing her and looks into her eyes wordlessly asking permission. Amy weakly shakes her head yes and he pulls the material down exposing her breasts. Sheldon takes her breasts into his hands carefully, handling them as if they were fragile. Then he starts kissing down her neck while his thumbs make gentle circles on her nipples. Amy is breathing so heavily it is starting to embarrass her, his actions are leaving her undone.

Amy is sure that every thing she has been hoping for is about to happen right now. Is this how she thought it would happen? The answer would be no, to be honest she thought it might never happen. In her fervent dreams she imangined it happening a million differnt ways, but never like this. This was beyond her wildest imanginings, her heart was thuudding against her chest in anticipation.

"I didn't know you knew how to do any of this." Amy manages to say before he kisses the tip of her breast.

"I didn't... but awhile ago I decided that this was something I would like to , I love you, and I know this is something that you have been wanting. The things that you want somehow have a way of turning into the things that I want as well." he tells her.

"How long have you been considering this?" Amy asks him between kisses.

"Well I have been considering the topic at hand for several years. As you know Sheldon Lee Cooper does not do anything without properly researching the topic beforehand." He says matter of factly before continuing his sensual assault.

"Oh? What did you find in your research?" Amy manages to squeak out as his hands maneuver under her dress and make a pathway up her legs.

"I learned that the female body has several erogenous zones, one being right here." He kisses her behind her ear.

"Here" he lets his mouth trail down giving soft kisses down her neck and onto her collar bone.

"Of course here." he says taking her nipple into his mouth and suckling lightly then turning his attention to the other breast and doing the same. Then he sits her up, liftes her arms into the air and pulls her dress completely off. Then he gently pushes her back and lies her back down.

"One that might surprise you is right here." he tells her kissing her stomach near her belly button. Amy gasps suprised in the spike in pleasure as his tongue dips into her belly button.

"But of course the most important one is this one right here." he says as he touches her through her panties. Amy is practically panting under his surprisingly skilled hands. By the time he reaches her most important erogenous zone she feels like she is about to burst.

"That is some pretty extensive research, is there anything else you learned." Amy manages to say, feeling hot and bothered eager for him to explore more.

"Of course, now from what I gather the point of this exercise is to achieve orgasm. Now in my research I gleaned that it his much harder for the female partner to achieve orgasm than the male. I did however read that for a woman to achieve orgasm one of the best ways is to manipulate the clitoris while simultaneously stimulating one or more of the erogenous zones. Shall we give that a try?" All Amy can manage is a weak nod as he removes her underwear. Then he touches her rubbing the sensitive bundle of nerves between his fingers. All the while his mouth his making the circuit from her neck and down again. By the time he makes it down to her breasts again she is shattered. Amy feels like she is flying through space and she cries out. He stops and and looks at her curiously, then a smile creeps on his face.

"I did it! Didn't I? You were able to achieve orgasm?" Sheldon says triumphantly.

"Yes, that was amazing Sheldon." Amy purrs, then a shadow crosses his face. "What's wrong?"

"We haven't had coitus yet, and isn't the enterprise over if you have already achieved orgasm?" Sheldon asks.

"No… I think I am up for more, I would love to see where else your research led you." Amys says Sheldon smiles at her and begins removing his clothing.

"My research into the male orgasm was did not have to be quite as extensive. It seems the male party as it much easier in the quest." He says pulling off his t-shirt, and then the shirt underneath. Amy runs her hands up and down his body, he does not seem to mind, in fact the act seems to excite him further.

"Is that so? Then how does the male party acheive orgasm?" Amy asks kissing his neck while her hands help him rid himself of his pants. Sheldon has been carefully folding each article as he takes it off, before he takes off his pants he takes out his wallet and removes a foil package. Sheldon hands the package to her.

"You put this on, my hands are shaking to bad." he tells her kneeling on the couch in front of her.

"Sheldon we don't have too, if you are too nervous or scared." Amy tells him letting her eyes drink all of him in. This is the forst time she has seen him completely nude and she thinks he is beautiful.

"I want to, I am ready." he says softly and Amy nods as she sits up and takes him into her hands rolling the condom over him. "Are you **ready**?" he asks his voice hoarse as he moves between her legs.

"Yes." Amy tells him looking up at him, he is poised at her entrance his face stoic as he slowly plunges in to her. The feeling is odd at first, overly full and stretched. Sheldon lowers his body onto hers cradling her face between his arms as be starts to move. The expression on his face alone would be enough to topple her over into ecstasy again. His blue eyes bore into her own, soft yet winces slightly as he plunges the his full length into her, their is a twinge of pain then it starts to full good.

"Am I hurting you?" he asks concerned " I read that sometimes a woman's first time can be painful. "

"No, it feels good, how do you feel?" Amy asks

"I feel amazing, I must say I can see what all the fuss is about." Sheldon says plunging deeper into her he seems to have found his rhythm and Amy can feel herself reaching that precipice again. Sheldon's face is awash in pleasure and he calls out her name as he reaches climax. He lays on top of her panting then he looks at her and kisses her softly.

"Sheldon! Are you up there!" they hear Mary yell from below and he jumps off her as though he has been scalded. Amy grabs her clothes and gets dressed faster than she ever has before in her life.

"Yes mother we are up here, I was just showing Amy the tree house." Sheldon calls down while laying on the edge of the couch wiggling into his pants.

"Been up there a long time for just a simple tour." Mary calls up.

"We found some old board games,and decided to play a game." Sheldon says pulling on both his shirts with a violent tug.

"I am sure y'all were just playing **tiddly winks**." Mary says her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Now come on down! Missy and Ayden are ready to go home!"

Sheldon mouths "I think she bought it" at Amy and winks at her. Amy just gives him a face that says I'm sure she did. Sheldon and Amy descend the ladder and met Mary who is standing at the bottom her arms crossed tapping her foot. Mary can tell what was going on up there as soon as she lays eyes on Amy. The girl is practically glowing but her head is hung down embarrassed. She should be embarrassed Mary thinks, carrying on like teenagers in a tree house, at a family function no less.

The car ride home is deadly silent everyone is exhausted. Sheldon has a grin in his face like the cat who ate the would like to slap off his face, what has gotten in to that boy she thinks. Mary can hardly hold her tongue on the matter, but wisely decides that now is not the time. Amy stares out the window desperately wishing she and Sheldon were alone and not crammed in a car with his family.

Amy practically sprints into the house wanting to avoid Mary and her knowing gaze. She dashes into the bedroom grabs her night things and runs to the shower. Amy let's the water beat down on her as she thinks about the nights events. Does she feel like more of a woman now? She can't decide yet. Amy goes back to the bedroom Sheldon is not inside so she lays down on the bed and waits for him. Amy wonders if they will do it again any time soon, she hopes so. When Sheldon enters the room he is wearing his pajamas and she can tell he has showered. Amy heart skips a beat at the sight of him she does not think she could love him anymore. That is until he opens his mouth and speaks.

"Amy I think it would be best if you went back to sleeping in the trundle." he tells her. Amy is crushed but tries to put on a brave face. Without saying a word she pulls out the trundle and lays down. Amy presses her face into the pillow not wanting Sheldon to see her cry. _Will you still love me tomorrow _by the Shirellesstarts playing in her head. She hears Sheldon lay down and he is quiet for a while but she can tell he us not asleep yet.

"Amy?" Sheldon asks.

"What." Amy says

"Was I an adequate lover?" Sheldon asks.

" More than adequate, quite adept in my opinion. " Amy tells him her anger with him not coloring her opinions of the nights events.

"So you won't tell Penny and Bernadette that I did not met your expectations as a lover?"

"No you got an exceeds expectations, were you worried about that?" Amy asks.

"Extremely, it has been one of the things holding me back. Thinking because I got such a late start at it that maybe I would not be any good and disappoint you sexually."

"Well cross that worry off your list… was I an adequate lover?"

"Are you kidding! Why do you think I am making you sleep in the trundle again?" Sheldon tells her.

"Well, my thought would be that I disappointed you sexually and you don't want to be near me right now." Amy tells him.

"No quite the opposite actually, I am afraid if you join me up here I will be unable to control myself around you." Sheldon tells her.

"What's the problem with that?" Amy asks

"Well three things come to mind, one being that I need to sleep and I fear with you beside me I will be too distracted to sleep. Yet knowing you are down there is just as distracting to me. Number two is that I do not relish the thought of being barged in on by my mother again. This time I do not think she would buy my board games excuse. Then finally the condom in my wallet was the only one I had, as I never imagined myself wanting to do it more than once. Now I can not stop thinking about when it will happen again." Sheldon sighs.

"How long have you had that in there?" Amy asks.

"Since prom night, I was prepared to have coitus then until my panic attack changed things ."

"Well, I can solve all your reservations except the last one, that one is non negotiable." Amy tells him looking up at him and sees him nodding in agreement. "However I could come up there and show you some of my research I have done on the male erogenous zones." Sheldon looks down at her like he is considering it and gives her a little half smile.

"I would love to see your research, welcome aboard Dr. Fowler." he says and scoots over in the bed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Got my charger back so I should be able to update the next chapter with a little more ease. Again I own none of these characters**

Sheldon has been awake for a while staring at the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. He remembers the day his mother hung them up, May 20th 1986. Quite frankly he is surprised that they still have their luminosity after all these years. When Sheldon woke up it was from a vague fuzzy dream with a deep sense of contentment. Unsure why he felt so happy til he looked down and saw the dark shiny head of Amy Farrah Fowler resting on his chest.

The events of the previous evening come flooding back and he thinks about each moment in delicious detail. Never so happy to have an eidetic memory as now.

Sheldon is still shocked that he ,to quote Leonard, "had it in him." Sex had never interested Sheldon, it was never something that he thought about. When he was at the age when his hormones were supposedly flying Sheldon was occupied with learning. Sex was just never brought to his attention before living with his first room-mate.

Ryan Kwan had been the impetus for such stringent requirements on the room-mate agreement. The guy had made Howard Wolowitz look like a discreet gentleman in both decorum and manners. The man was constantly assaulting him with a barrage of inappropriate inquiries to his proclivities. Sheldon thinks back on the first conversation that they had after he had moved his things in.

"So do you mind if I have girls over?" Ryan asked.

"Why would you have girls over? Like as a study group? I suppose with enough warning that would be acceptable." He told him.

"No man! I mean to you know." he then made a strange clicking noise with his tongue and wiggled his eyebrows.

"I most certainly do not know what you mean."

"Are you gay? Because it is cool if you are with me." Ryan had asked

"Am I gay? I am not happy in particular now, but I am prone to periods of whimsy just like anybody else." He had known what he meant, his brother had called him that thousands of times. He had learned though if he played coy with the meaning of a phrase, the subject was often dropped

"No, I mean do you like to sleep with dudes?" Ryan persisted

"In college I briefly shared a dorm room with another fellow. Strange though one night while I was working in the lab he packed up all his things never to return again. From then on I was able to have a room to myself which suited me better."

"No, man I mean do you like to have sex with other guys?" Ryan persisted.

"Oh, you mean am I a homosexual?" If he was going to be asked about it might as well use the correct terms.

"Yes."Ryan says exasperated.

"No, I am not."

"So you go out with girls?"

"I am finished with this conversation as it has started to circle. If you must have guests over, please submit to me in writing a formal request before inviting over any."

Sheldon had been so embarrassed by that conversation, it was the first time he was asked directly about his orientation. Being teased about something was much different from being asked flat-out. The truth be told he thought about it so little he never thought he had to declare himself to be anything. It wasn't until his mid-twenties that he discovered you were meant to declare yourself as one side or the other like warring factions. People just did not seem to grasp the fact that he was a neutral party. That he viewed both genders the same, he wanted as little to do with both them as possible.

Then he met Amy and all of that changed, it did not happen all at once like flipping a switch. No Amy was cunning in her quest to win him over. Amy had quietly assimilated herself into his life. Crept her way in to the point that imaging life with out her was unthinkable.

Sheldon brushes her hair down with his free hand and she sighs in her sleep. Amy snuggled deeper into him ,her hand gently stroking his side as she does. The sensation of her breath combined with the gentle caress sends a thrill up his spine. Not to long ago contact like this would have made his skin crawl, with anyone else it still would. The first time Amy had touched him and he had felt the thrill of sensation it had scared him terribly.

The rush of ardor that came over him when he looked at her made no sense to him at first. He had tried to explain it away, it couldn't be desire, he had never felt desire before. The more conclusion's he tried to invent the more he circled back to the truth. That he loved her, and not only that he desired her.

For years he had tried to deny how deeply he felt for her, scared to give himself over to unfamiliar territory. Not anymore, losing Memaw had made him think about how tenuous their time on earth really was. Not that he thought Memaw would live forever but he had never accepted that he could lose her so soon.

Lose her and never get to say a proper goodbye, to tell her how much she had meant to him. Now he would never see her again, he would never receive another letter addressed in her spidery scrawl, never hear her call him Moonpie again.

What if ,heaven forbid, something happened to Amy? Certainly Amy was a young vibrant woman and in no danger of dying soon. Yet the world is full of unseen events. Amy could die in a car crash, she could catch a virus in her lab and never bounce back. The hypothetical thought of losing her brings tears to his eyes and be holds her close.

Sheldon drifts off to sleep again formulating a plan in his head. Sheldon thinks Amy is aware of how deep his feeling for her are but he is going to make sure that she is positive.

* * *

><p>It is early, still dark out when Mary steps outside, she pulls a pack of cigarettes out of her robe pocket. The last time that she had one was the day that George Sr. died. Mary had promised herself then that it would be her last. Then she had bought this pack on the way home from the hospital after Memaw had passed. The pack had been in her purse for days untouched, until now. Mary lights one takes a deep drag and sighs, watching the smoke curl upwards to the sky that is slowly changing from indigo to lavender. Mary takes one more deep drag stubs it out , then takes the pack out crushes it and tosses it into the trash.<p>

There is nothing in the world that ails you that can't be fixed with a good nights sleep and a strong cup of coffee. That's what her Mama had always told her at least. For the most part Mary had always found it, to be true. Last night Mary had been so upset she was sure she would have been able to spit fire.

Yet now not a trace of that anger lingered, she is wasn't happy but she wasn't mad. What Sheldon had said to her when he caught her in a compromising position last year had kept playing through her head. That boy was always acting so superior, talking to her about hypocrisy, who was the hypocrite now?

It is always hard watching your kids grow up she thinks, stepping back inside. Mary puts on a pot of coffee letting her mind wander as it percolates. What had she expected?It had been her own suggestion that had them sleeping in the same room. Yeah but you were mighty pleased when he came out asking for sheets for the trundle Mary argues with herself.

Shelly was a grown man now, it was so easy to still think of him as a 's feelings for Shelly had always been so complicated. In some ways he grew up so much faster than Missy and George. Shelly could do just about everything before they could. Hell ,the boy was in college while George was still in little league. Then in some ways he had stayed her little boy so much longer. Sheldon was just so innocent, it was nice not worry about that with your son that way. Not anymore, though, despite what he had told her the other day.

That was the other thing that had bothered her, it wasn't like Shelly to lie, the boy was a terrible liar. Mary supposed that everyone changed, but things around here were changing so fast it was enough to make her head spin.

* * *

><p>Amy wakes up still snuggled on Sheldon's chest. Amy lays there quiet for a moment listening to the steady thump of his heart. Still trying to process all that had happened in such a short amount of time. Amy is feeling a strange mixture of elation and guilt that she has only felt once before in her life.<p>

When she was younger her mother had forbidden from eating candy. She told Amy that it rotted the mind as well as the teeth. Then one day on her way to school she stopped at the store and bought herself a Snickers bar. Amy had dreamed about what it would taste like and it exceeded her expectations. To this day she can still remember the way the chocolate melted in her mouth, the feel of the caramel on her tongue, and the crunch of the peanuts. It was pure ecstasy, but afterwards Amy was with guilt. The rest of the day at school her stomach twisted in knots. Just thinking about what her mother would say when she found out. By the time she arrived home she was in tears, she had never gone against her mothers wishes before.

What she wouldn't give to speak to Penny or Bernadette now. Amy knows logically that she is a grown woman and that she can eat as much "candy" as she wants . Yet she still feels naughty, like she has done a very bad thing, and she doesn't know why. Then her mind starts racing in a million different directions, what happened now?

Amy feels the inexplicable urge to run away, she does not want to face what the morning might bring. Last night Sheldon was so affectionate, full tender touches and passionate kisses. Amy does not think she can go back to the way it was before. Never touching, stilted date night kisses. Now that she had a taste of what could be she wanted more. Even now she was afraid of touching him to much, afraid that when his eyes open he will ask what she is still doing in his arms.

Amy gets up cautiously trying her best not to wake him up. Once she is out of the bed he rolls over and hugs a pillow to his chest. Sheldon mumbles something in his sleep that Amy can't make out Amy sneaks out of the room and finds the bathroom already occupied. So she pads down the hall to the kitchen in search of liquid. Suddenly her throat feels desert dry.

Mary is already sitting at the kitchen table staring out the window at the sun just beginning to rise. Mary seems oblivious to Amy's arrival so it shocks Amy when Mary asks without looking at her.

"You want some coffee, honey?"

"I'm not a big coffee drinker, I'll take some tea if you have it."

"Kettle is in the cabinet with the pink tea towel on it. The tea is in the cabinet above it go ahead and help yourself." Amy gets the tea-things out, disappointed with the lack of selection. It makes her homesick for Sheldon's tea box back home with its neatly ordered rows. All Mary has is Tetley tea but Amy does not complain. Amy makes her tea and sits at the table with Mary.

"We are both up early aren't we?" Amy comments blowing on her tea trying to break the stifling silence. Amy does not know Mary well but she has never known her, so stormily silent.

"I thought you would be awfully tuckered out after your board game session in the tree house last night." Mary says stirring her coffee absently.

Amy turns bright red, tears sting her eyes, she is so humiliated. Amy gets up and heads out the back door wishing that she had somewhere to hide. That was Amy's coping mechanism when she got to mad or just did not feel like dealing with something she was out the door. Amy was not big on confrontation and running away was always the simpler solution. Amy sits down on a metal porch swing and let's herself cry. Soon she feels someone sit down beside of her and she looks up to see Mary.

"You don't mind if I sit a spell with you?" Mary asks.

"No."

"Well honey it seems like you are more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, the way you shot out of that room." Mary tells her.

"I'm embarrassed, by my behavior last night." Amy tells her.

"I take it that carrying on in tree forts during family functions is not your something you normally do?" Mary says.

"None of this, is things that I normally would do." Amy says stiffly wiping her tears on her sleeves.

"What are you saying honey?"

"No offense Mary but I don't think this a topic that I feel comfortable discussing with my boyfriends mother." Amy tells her.

"We are practically family by now, don't you feel you have to hold anything back from me. I am an open-minded woman, think of my not as Sheldon's mother but as a friend. I am sorry if I offended you back thee but I was just teasing you honey I swear. I am just used to Missy who can take it as well a she dishes it out. I should have been more sensitive" Mary senses that the tears are about more than a comment about board games. Mary still feels terrible, she had expected some witty retort in return.

"Last night was my first time, and I am scared." Amy admits to her feeling satisfied to have the burden off her chest. Mary is floored this is a conversation she never expected to have and she handles it with a much dignity as she can muster.

"Sweetie there is no need to be scared, or ashamed. You are a grown woman and he is a grown man , you both are free to make your own choices in life. It is clear to me as the day is long that my boy is head over heels in love with you." Mary tells her wrapping her arm around her shoulder. Just then the door opens and Sheldon walks out wrapped up in his robe.

"There are my two favorite girls." he says beaming and Mary and Amy return his smile. "I have been looking all over for you, I just got some excellent news." Sheldon seems positively giddy.

"Whats up?" Amy asks curiously.

"Leonard and Penny are arriving today! Their flight gets in at three o clock!"

"Oh that's wonderful sugar, I was hoping your friend could make it" Mary tells him.

"Great we can go pick them up together." Amy say's faking enthusiasm, as much as she is excited for the arrival of her bestie in this unfamiliar territory. Amy is worried what the arrival of Leonard will do to upset the closeness she has found with Sheldon the past few days.


	10. Chapter 10

Do to some unforseen circumstances I have been able to update in about a month. Thank you for sticking wth the story.

Later in the morning Mary has them working non-stop cleaning and sorting things at Memaws house. Mary seems to be coming up with ways to separate them deliberately. Having Amy sort clothes in a guest bedroom. Having Sheldon go through old documents he his grandfathers old office. Missy and Mary are running around the house trying to sift out the things that have value sentimental or real from the junk.

Amy finds an old hat box on the top shelf of the closet and pulls it down. Amy pulls off the lid expecting to find a church hat and is surprised that the box contains letters neatly stacked and rubber-banded. Amy curiosity is piqued the letters could be from anybody, love letters from Sheldon's grandfather or an old lover perhaps? Amy knows she shouldn't snoop but her curiosity out weighs her guilt and she pulls a stack out and is mildly disappointed to find they are all from Sheldon himself. The first letter is dated September 1st 1991, that would have been Sheldon's first year of college Amy muses as she reads the letter.

Dear Memaw,

Thank you for the box of cookies you sent, they were greatly appreciated. My first week of college is going well, I find my classes to be engaging if not a trifle easy. To answer your question from your letter I have not made any friends yet, but that is not my primary objective of coming here. I look forward to seeing you soon when you visit.

Yours truly

Moonpie

The rest of the letter is much in the same fashion just short snippets of his life and his studies. Amy finds one from around the time Leonard became his roommate.

I may have finally found a suitable roommate after my last one proved to be a spectacular disaster. This fellow past all my barriers with reasonable ease, and seems neat and quiet enough. His name is Leonard and he also works at the university with me so he is able and willing to drive me back and forth. To answer the question I am sure you are already formulating no, he is not your typical California hippie.

Amy laughs to herself, maybe Memaw is where he got his favorite term for a person who does not believe as he does. She is starting to get bored when and just starts thumbing through the letters. Amy happens upon one that is dated May 24 2010 the day she met him.

Something happened today that I am sure you will find interesting, I met a girl. Now don't get excited, I have not changed my stance on not having a desire to date or pair bond with a woman. Yet if I were to ever reverse my previous objections it might be with this particular female. Her name is Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler and she is a neuroscientist at UCLA, she is certainly one of the brightest people I have ever met.

Amy smiles as she reads it ans starts searching the letters for more mentions of herself. Several letters go by without her making an appearance, although sometimes he mentions things she knows they did together. Slowly she starts to be mentioned more and more and in greater detail.

Amy is conducting a study in her lab on addiction, and has trained a monkey how to smoke. I got to met the little guy and his while his manners were uncouth at best,it did nothing to change my opinions on the species as a whole.

In another letter he says.

I never went in much for the messy sciences like biology but Amy makes it seem most fascinating. Today she was over and we started talking about one of her studies she was conducting. It was such interesting subject matter that I lost track of time completely. I only meant to have her over for an hour or two while Leonard was out , but before I knew it Leonard was arriving back home and four hours had passed.

Amy reads through more feeling guilty yet exhilarated at the same time. All this time she was never sure if is family even knew about her and these letters are confirmation that Memaw at least, not only knew about her but was kept abreast of everything they did. Amy is starting to feel bad , these letter were never meant for her eyes she wrestles with her conscience then decides to pack the letters back onto the box. Just then she hears Sheldon walking up the stairs calling her name. Amy hastily stuffs the rest into box and one letter resists and falls beside her. It is dated almost two weeks ago, it is presumably the last communication that Sheldon had with her before she died. Amy hastily folds the letter and shoves it into her pocket before replacing the lid on the box and placing back into the closet.

"Amy, are you done it is time to get Leonard and Penny from the airport." she hears Sheldon call from outside the door

"Yeah I am done." she says as he opens the door. Amy feels her cheeks glowing red, she knows she must look guilty.

"Are you OK?" he asks concerned.

"Fine, I just got over heated, not used to this Texas heat like you are." Amy chuckles and the sound feels unnatural as it falls from her lips the letter in her pocket feel like it weighs a hundred pounds.

"I suppose that is true, even I must admit it is awfully stuffy in here. Now come on we have to get going, my mother said we can borrow Memaws car."

* * *

><p>Amy sits behind the wheel of a flashy red Mustang convertible and it feels amazing. When Sheldon had told her that they would be driving his grandmothers car he had pictured an old persons car like a Buick or and Oldsmobile, or maybe even something like her Volvo at home. Certainly not a cherry red convertible, even though Sheldon refuses to let her put the top down.<p>

"Your Memaw had great taste in cars." Amy beams over at him, and he smirks back over at her.

"Hardly, I told her red was the color most likely to be pulled over by police and I told her convertibles are just not safe but she refused to listen. I think her exact words were "Its my retirement , I will do what I please"

"Are you sure you don't want to put the top down?"

"Very,why risk decapitation more than you have too."

"Sheldon it is extremely unlikely that you will be decapitated."

"You don't know that, we could get behind a lumber truck and a rouge board could slice my head off, or a confused goose could fly right in here a cause us to veer off the freeway." He says looking straight ahead at the road and Amy just sighs. Amy tries to get a better feel for the scenery this time, the trip to his mothers house was such a blur the first time.

* * *

><p>Sheldon was mostly silent during the ride, in his mind he was trying to assemble his thoughts for the eulogy he was to deliver tomorrow at the funeral. Sheldon kept what he knew about her close his heart. When he was younger he would sit on her lap and ask her about her likes and dislikes. Eager to chronicle everything about her, she was his favorite person in the world.<p>

Sheldon remebers how her favorite flowers were hydrangea blossoms and how passionately she cultivated them in her garden, her favorite color was red, not just red but scarlet. Memaw had a fancy name for every color, things were not just blue, and yellow they were periwinkle and vermulean. Her love for the color red was evident in the gaudy spectacle Amy was now driving. How much she loved to cook and how that love showed through in each bite . All of that seemed hollow though, empty reminders of the woman that she was, how could he ever describe how much she meant to him and those around her by talking about blue posies, and red cars?

Then is mind wandered to meeting with Leonard again, he had not seen his best freind and roomate in almost a week. Sheldon had not even given him a warning that he was leaving. In fact it was a worried voice mail by Leonard wondering where he was.

That even prompted Sheldon to tell him what had happened. What if it had been Leonard who had been there when he recived the call? Would he be here withn him instead? No he thinks Leonard might have driven him to the airport but his loyalties to the university and to Penny woulkd have kept him in California until other arrangemnts could be made. He looks at Amy eternaly grateful for he presence in her his life. Amy had thought nothing about dropping everythng and coming out her to support him. Would he ever stop being indebted to this woman and her virtues? Thinking of Amy and virtue sets his mind reeling again. Would he tell Leonard all that had transpired between himself and Amy in the few short days they had been n Texas together? Sheldon things not, it is private he likes having this being only between himself and Amy for now.

* * *

><p>Penny steps into the airport terminal with Leonard by her side, stlll a little in awe she is in Texas at all. She never met Sheldon's Memaw but she felt like she knew her after all Sheldon had told her about her, and she wanted pay her respects.<p>

"You find Sheldon and Amy and I'll go claim our bags." Leonard tells her giving her a kiss on the cheek before he walks away.

Penny scans the terminal looking for her friends she sees them standing a ways off, she lifts her hand to wave at them then stops. Something about them seems different, and she can't quite place it. Sheldon is still just as tall and lanky as ever, Amy seemingly barely coming up to his elbow. Sheldon is smiling down at her and he bends down to say something into her ear. Whatever he says makes her giggle and she beams back up at him grabbing his arm. They look at each other and for a moment and for one crazy moment Penny thinks they might kiss. Not that would be completely off the wall, she has seen then kiss before, but always after date night and never in the middle of a crowded airport. Then Amy spots her and calls out her name waving her hands wildly and calling out her name. Penny has to laugh she looks like a crazy person but Amy has never cared about that. Penny walks over to them and gives them she wraps Amy in a hug and lighlty wraps one arm around Sheldon.

"How are you holding up?" she asks Sheldon.

"As well as could be expected." he tells her as Leonard appears at her side and gives Sheldon a one-armed hug.

"Sorry,buddy I would have been here sooner but you know,work." he tells him.

"It's fine, I had Amy with me." Sheldon tells him as he releases him, looking at Amy wth a lovestruck expression on his face. Then it strikes Penny what is different, and she is going to drill Amy for information the minute that she gets her alone.


	11. Chapter 11

would like to thank my beta reader Shamy4eva for helping me out with this chapter. Again I own none of this.

"This is some car you are driving." Penny remarks as they climb inside the convertible. "Rental?"

"No, this was Memaw's car it is on loan to us for the day." Amy informs her as she taxies out of the airport parking lot.

"Damn, Memaw had style." Penny nods approvingly.

"Memaw did enjoy things with a bit of flash." Sheldon agrees. "Amy. Just because you are driving a flashy car does not mean that you have to drive like a speed demon down the freeway." He chides glancing at the speedometer.

"Sheldon I am going two miles over the posted speed limit."

"That is two miles closer to oblivion in this ostentatious death trap." Amy rolls her eyes but adjusts her speed.

"So what are the arrangements?" Leonard asks "If there is not enough room at your mother's house we can stay in a hotel." Amy is about to voice the opinion that a hotel would probably be the better option than the madhouse that has become the Cooper residence. She could only imagine how George Jr. would act around Penny.

"I hardly think that will be necessary, my mother has plenty of room." Sheldon tells them craning his neck backward.

"Sheldon, are you sure that they would not feel more comfortable in a hotel? As it is there is Missy in her room, George in his and we are sharing a room…"

"You guys are sharing a room!" Penny exclaims. Sheldon shoots Amy a look as if he thought that information could have been kept secret.

"Yes, due to space constrictions Amy is currently sleeping in the trundle of my childhood bed." He says it in way that clearly indicates he wants nothing more said on the subject and turns to stare out of the window. Amy looks in the rear view mirror. Penny opens her mouth to ask for more information but Leonard grabs her hand and shakes his head in an effort to silence her. Penny closes her mouth deciding in deference to the current situation that keeping her mouth shut would be the best idea. The rest of the car ride is uneventful with Leonard bringing them up to date on what has been happening in Pasadena which by the sound of it is not much.

* * *

><p>Arriving at Mary's house they enter the living room where George Jr. and Mary are watching TV. Mary jumps up and embraces both Leonard and Penny.<p>

"It is so nice to see both of ya'll again. I hear from Shelly that you two got engaged. Have ya'll set a date yet?" Mary asks. George Jr. also stands up, his eyes transfixed on Penny.

"No, no date yet but we are over the moon about getting engaged." Penny tells Mary.

"Maybe you haven't set a date because you aren't sure about marrying the little squirt yet." George Jr. says first shaking Leonard's hand then crushing Penny in a hug.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Penny asks confused as he releases her.

"Sure you do, I am sure my baby brother talks about me all the time." George is still leering at Penny making her feel extremely uncomfortable.

"So you are Sheldon's brother, you are so much more…" Penny begins but George Jr. interrupts her

"Handsome, strapping, charming, than Sheldon." he asks nudging Sheldon with his shoulder and wiggling his eyebrows.

"No. None of those." Penny says looking at him disgusted. Mary quickly changes the subject before a fight starts.

"So will ya'll be staying with us?" she asks.

"We don't want to impose Mrs. Cooper. We can find a hotel room to stay in." Leonard tells her.

"Impose, nonsense, why ya'll are practically family at this point! Now this here couch pulls out and you are welcome to it. "Mary says warmly.

"Yeah, little sister Penny, we have more than enough room and your future hubby is so small he won't take up any space at all!" He guffaws loudly slapping Leonard on the back.

Penny edges away, moves closer to Amy and whispers "Is Sheldon's brother always so obnoxious I mean I thought Sheldon was rude but George brings it to a whole new level."

"You have no idea, there is so much I have to tell you." Amy hisses back to her and Penny raises her eyebrows she cannot wait to get Amy alone. As if in answer to her wish Mary says suddenly.

"Amy honey, could you do me a favor there is a couple of things I need to get from the store. With all that has been going on I just have not had the time to do some shopping. Do you think that you could run up to the Wal-Mart and pick up a few things for me sugar."

"Of course Mrs. Cooper." Mary clears her throat loudly " I mean Mary, whatever you need."

"You know I have never been to Texas before, and I would love to look around, I'll come with you." Penny says.

"If you don't mind Amy I think I will stay here, there is some work I need to get done." Sheldon tells Amy.

"I think I will stay behind too." Leonard tells them as Mary hands Amy a list from her purse and tries to hand her a couple of twenties which Amy refuses to accept.

"You have done so much for me Mary, at least let me do this for you."

"If you insist." Mary says putting the money back into her purse.

* * *

><p>"So, you are going to let me drive, right?" Penny asks as they head out the door.<p>

"Certainly, this is a little too much car for me" Amy says as she hands over the keys.

"Now tell me everything." Penny demands as they head out of the neighborhood.

"Where do I begin?" Amy recounts the last couple of days in colorful detail. Starting with the date night interrupted by the call, the flight to Texas, Mary suggesting they share a room and Sheldon not protesting it as much as she thought he would. Amy gets to the part about George Jr. and his drunken display before Penny says anything.

"Oh God, I really had no idea how horrible his brother was! I cannot believe he slapped your ass like that! What do you think George Jr. meant when he said he knows the truth about Sheldon?"

"I don't know, part of me thinks he was just rambling because he was drunk, the other part wonders if there was not something more."

"Sheldon's brother is something else isn't he?" Penny says

"I would not want to be left alone with him again that's for sure." Amy agrees.

"Speaking of being left alone, how is sharing a room with Sheldon going?" Penny asks winking at a blushing Amy.

"Really good." Amy says winking back at Penny.

"Oh my god! So are you still in the trundle or have you graduated to the big boy bed?" Penny asks her voice dripping with innuendo.

"Let's just say that Sheldon is definitely a big boy now." Amy tells her and Penny turns to stare at her open mouthed.

"Penny! Road! " Amy yells .

"Amy, are saying, what I think you are saying?" Penny says stunned, turning back to look at the road.

"Sheldon and I have finally…"

"Oh my God! It's true! You guys had sex! Why didn't you start with that? Penny shouts.

"I was getting to it, but there was a lot of backstory leading up to the main event," Amy begins.

"Screw the backstory, was it any good? "

"It was perfect, better than anything I could have imagined." Amy recounts the previous evening telling Penny about the square dancing and the tree house, but skates over the more intimate details.

"Wow, it almost seems like you are talking about a different guy. Do you think you guys will do it again?"

"I admit that at times I feel like I am with a different guy, besides the tragedy of his Memaw dying, for me, this whole week has been wonderful. Sheldon has been more communicative and affectionate then he has ever been before. I just worry about what he will be like when we return back home."

"What do you think will happen?" Penny says turning serious.

"I wish knew, at best we have a reached a new level in our relationship. At worst, back on his home turf, he may just feel he was seeking solace and that the whole enterprise has no place outside of this fishbowl environment created by being in Texas."

" Way to think optimistically Ames." Penny says.

"I am sorry but after almost four years with him I still have no clue how he will react to some situations, sometimes he surprises me and sometimes he acts exactly how I fear he will." Amy says sadly

"Why don't you just ask him?" Penny says

"If only it were that simple." Amy sighs.

* * *

><p>Sheldon sits at the computer desk in his room, staring at the blank screen on his laptop. He has been trying unsuccessfully for the past two hours to compose a tribute to Memaw. Leonard had kept him company for a while trying to help. Yet for some reason Sheldon felt his presence was irritating and after Sheldon had snapped at him for the third time, Leonard left to see if Mrs. Cooper needed help with anything.<p>

Sheldon has never been good at sentiment, his mind, so adept at writing essays and dissertations on physics could not think of a single thing to say about the woman who had helped shape him. He hears the door open and expecting it to be Leonard again, doesn't look up.

However it is Amy who walks into room and sees him hunched over his laptop rubbing his temples.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, just a little stressed, there has been a lot to deal with in such a short amount of time."

"I understand." She walks over and standing behind him, looks at what is on the screen. So far all he has written is, How can I begin to describe what this woman meant to me. Amy is not sure if that is the beginning of his speech or a plea to himself.

"I want to write a eulogy for my Memaw that sums up how I felt about her influence in my life while simultaneously being a moving tribute that will bring the audience to tears." Amy puts her hands on his shoulders. Gently rubbing between his shoulder blades, she feels him tense up under her touch. Fearing a rebuke she removes her hand, not understanding why he would still be uncomfortable with her touching him after all that has happened and tries not to get offended.

"Why'd you stop?" he says looking over his shoulder at her with a stricken face.

Amy resumes rubbing his shoulders getting bolder as she massages the tense muscles of his back. "I don't want to bother you, I just came into check on you."

"You're not bothering me, in fact your presence is a welcome distraction. I am hopelessly stuck on this eulogy, I may have to tell them to let someone else speak. Not only do I not have a clue what I should say I am terrified at the thought of delivering it to the crowd of people who will be at the service. Everyone is expecting me to deliver some eloquent speech, given that I am far and away the most intelligent member of the family. My intellect is mostly a blessing but at times like these it's a curse." He sighs leaning his head against Amy's abdomen. Amy realizes that he must be really distraught to curse his intelligence. So she increases her efforts trying to release the tight knots in the tendons of his neck. Sheldon lets out a soft moan that makes her stomach flutter reminding her of their activities the previous night.

"Amy… that feels… so good…" he groans as she continues to massage his back. Raising the hemline of his shirt, she places her hands on his bare skin and relishes the feel of it beneath her fingers. She thinks about all the years she had ached to touch him. How she would sit next to him on the couch and sit on her hands to keep herself from reaching out to him. It is odd that before she met him she had felt much the same way that he did about physical contact. When it came to others she still was not comfortable with it, but with Sheldon she felt like she could never be close enough.

Amy continues to knead the skin beneath her hands as Sheldon pulls off his shirts to give her better access. Her stomach is pulled in a tight knot of longing looking at him bare chested. Before now she had never seen him fully undressed and now, here, she had access to his whole body. Her conversation with Penny echoes in her mind. What would happen when they got home? Somehow she could not picture Sheldon sitting shirtless at his laptop letting her massage him. Yet she knows things could not go back to the way they were before. Things have irreversibly shifted and she realizes there is no going back. Just ask him she tells herself, but then he turned around in his chair and asked shyly.

"Do you want to lie down with me for a while, this speech writing has made me tired." Amy nods her head, feeling shy too. He gets up and she follows him to his bed. She lays down beside him as he wraps his arms around her and caresses her back as she had done to him earlier, she sighs and arches into him leaning up to kiss him on the mouth. Sheldon kisses her back as his hands move to her front and he starts undoing the buttons on her shirt. All the queries that she had in her head disappear as she lets herself enjoy what she has with him in this moment.


	12. Chapter 12

**i would again like to thank Shamy4eva for her help with this chapter. Thank you for sticking with the story. I own none of this.**

As much as Amy is trying to just stay in the now she is finding it hard. What she thought was going to be a session of shirtless kissing, is quickly becoming something more thrilling. As much as she would love to do it again her brain will not let her forget the fact that they have already used their one prophylactic. Although they had discussed it in the past she did not think Sheldon would appreciate it much if she got pregnant.

"Sheldon… we… should… stop" she says between kisses.

"You don't want to?" He asks concerned, staring into her eyes, his own looking fathomless and impossibly blue.

"I do, very much, it's just that, I thought you had only the one condom?" Amy says breathlessly as he maneuvers on top of her and produces one from the bed stand.

"I did, I stole these from my sisters room seeing as she won't have the occasion to use them for a while."

"You stole them from your sister, how devious of you." Amy laughs

"I am just getting her back for the myriad of things she has purloined from my room over the years. You know she once even stole a Mint in Package Batman figure from my room and gave it to some boy."

"Well if I had a brother I would steal his dolls and give them to you." Amy tells him looking into his eyes. He bites his lip looking incredibly sexy.

"Well, if you had a brother you would know that they are called action figures and not dolls." He says with mock seriousness bending down to kiss her again and stopping just short of her face.

"What. Is something wrong?" she asks

"Have I ever told you that I think you are incredibly beautiful?" he says kissing her softy on the tip of her nose.

"No, but to be fair not many people have. Even my mother describes me as being a handsome woman."

"Well she is wrong. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." Amy reaches up and kisses him deeply. They continue to remove their clothes, their actions, as they enjoy each other's bodies are easier this time. Slow and intense. Amy had once read coitus being described as the meeting and blending of two souls. At the time she had found the description ridiculous, sex was purely mechanical nothing else. Yet now she felt the truth of this in her joining with Sheldon.

Afterwards as she lays on her side with Sheldon's arm draped around her she wishes they could stay like this forever. However she knows they should get up, someone will be looking for them soon enough. Maybe when they get home… Then she stops that train of thought. As her mother always said, the best way to not get your hopes dashed is to have no hopes at all. Amy moves to get her clothes and sees the letter from Memaw's house laying on the ground. Amy panics and jumps up hastily getting dressed and retrieving the letter.

"I think I have distracted you enough. I had better go see what everyone else is doing in case they come checking on us

"It was a very welcome distraction, but I guess you are right." He says moving to get dressed. Unsure of what to say next and anxious to read the letter and dispose of it she hurries out of the door without further comment.

* * *

><p>Amy hurries down the hall to get to the bathroom and bumps right into Leonard who is just leaving it. Leonard having seen Amy leave Sheldon's room asks "Hey Amy, were you able to make Sheldon feel any better?"<p>

"What do you mean by that? How would I make him feel better?" Amy says flushing crimson and trying to move past Leonard in the hall.

"Well when I was with him earlier he was acting like a giant jerk and sometimes though he is a jerk to everyone else, you seem to be able to get through to him." Leonard tells her.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Now excuse me I have to use the restroom." She stammers pushing past him to get to the bathroom. When she gets inside she quickly shuts and locks the door. Amy stares at herself in the mirror wondering if Leonard could see the evidence of her and Sheldon's activities. Her eyes seemed extra bright and her cheeks flushed. Amy combs her fingers through her hair and splashes water on her cheeks.

Pulling the letter from under her sweater, she sits on the toilet lid to read it.

* * *

><p>Sheldon hears the door open and without looking up says with a hint of seduction in his voice.<p>

"Back so soon, I thought you were done distracting me."

"Actually, it's someone new to bother you." Leonard says walking over to his bed and sitting down he notices that the bed is disheveled. "I've never known you to have an unmade bed." He comments. Sheldon slowly turns his head to look at Leonard.

"It isn't unmade it is made! The covers got messed up when Amy sat on it just like you are doing now. I really should get another chair in here for guests." with a touch of hysteria in his voice.

"Sheldon you are only going to be here a couple more days, I am sure it will be fine. Are you and Amy okay? I just ran into her in the hallway and she was acting really odd; like more weird than usual."

"Amy? She is fine, better than fine, nothing going on with Amy at all." Sheldon says overly casual, but his voice continuing to rise a little higher.

"Okay, now you are acting weird, and with you I do not use that term lightly." Leonard says.

"Oh REALLY Leonard, my grandmother with whom I was very close has just died. I have been ripped from routines that I have carefully crafted to keep my life in order. My brother is acting like a horny drunken sex fiend around both the woman I love and one of my closest friends and these are a few things that just may be affecting my behavior." Sheldon barks at him and Leonard puts up his hands defeated.

"I'm sorry, I know things have been rough for you the past couple of days. However don't forget that I have flown out here from Pasadena to support you and you have been irritated with me the entire time." Leonard tells him annoyed.

"You're right, but now the good news is that I think I am making progress on the eulogy." Sheldon tells him.

"Really, you were pretty stuck before."

"Yes, Amy has helped to relieve some of my tension. Now my mind feels freer to focus on what it needs to."

"Oh really? And how did Amy help relieve your tension?" Leonard says raising his eyebrow.

"Well you know, she delved into her neurobiological bag of tricks to soothe the savage beast as it were." Sheldon says spinning back around in his chair. "Now if you will excuse me, I have this eulogy to complete."

* * *

><p>Penny is sitting in the kitchen having a cup of coffee with Missy and catching up.<p>

"Missy what have you been up too the past six years?" Penny asks her eying her belly.

"You know staying busy". Missy laughs patting her belly.

"So tell me about your husband, I asked Sheldon but all he knew was his name was Ryan and he did something with oil."

"His name is Ryan Beudeux and he is, if you could not already tell by his name, from Louisiana. Ryan works on an oil rig, so he is gone a lot. I am surprised that Shelly knew as much as he did, you never know with him how much he is actually listening to you."

"Tell me about it, he literally told me that when I talk I sound like one of the parents on Charlie Brown to him. So how did you guys meet?"

"Oh honey, let me tell you it was like something out of a Harlequin book. I was working at this little hole in the wall place as a waitress. We were really slow so I was staring out the window bored out of my skull and dreaming about the day when I could quit. Then this big black motorcycle pulls up and on it is the most handsome man I have ever seen. Big broad shoulders, head full of black hair, and he walked with this swagger." Missy's voice is dreamy as she describes him.

"Hmm I know that type" Penny sighs.

"Oh, I am just getting started. He walks into the bar and sits down in one of the booths. We were empty so I was the only waitress on duty. Penny let me tell you, once I got up close he was so hot he was liable to make your teeth sweat. I could not even form a coherent thought around him, so much so that I brought him the wrong drink. I did not think I had a hope in the world with him. Then when he leaves, he leaves me a hundred dollar tip with his name and number written on it." Missy pauses to take a sip of her coffee

"Wow and you called. I had guys do that when I was a waitress but I never had the courage to call. I was afraid they would be axe murders or worse, players." Penny tells her.

"Of course I called, I figured even if he was a player it would be a hell of a pleasure to be played by him." Missy laughs. "On our first date he absolutely swept me off my feet. I was so disappointed when he told me that he was just on break from the rig and would have to go back in two months. We decided to make the most of the time we had and that I would wait for him for when he came back into town. However the week before he was due to leave to go back on the rig he said he could not stand the thought of some other man stealing me away while he was gone so he got down on one knee proposed. We went to the justice of the peace and were married the next day. Good thing too, because even though I did not know it yet little, Ayden was already cooking."

"Did your mom and grandmother approve of such a whirlwind romance?" Penny asks curious.

"Mama was a little hesitant at first, she did not want him leaving me high and dry. Memaw though, she was a surprisingly liberal lady. She had this saying "Boys ain't supposed to be pretty ; but boy oh boy do I love me a pretty man!" and Memaw thought Ryan was plenty pretty." Missy giggles and Penny laughs too.

"How did he win Mary over?"

"It helps that he is a bit of a charmer and was able to wrap Mama and Memaw around his little finger." Missy seems wistful before she changes the subject. "Enough about me! You've got your own big news. I heard you and Leonard got engaged. How did that happen? When I met ya'll it did not even seem that you liked him like that."

"Well that was six years ago and a lot has happened in six years. Leonard is my best friend and soul mate." Penny tells her.

"Speaking of soul mates here he comes right now." Missy says as Leonard walks into the kitchen and gives Penny a kiss on the cheek before sitting down in the chair next to her.

"Do you think Sheldon and Amy are doing alright?" Leonard asks them.

"I"ll say!" Penny says at the same time that Missy says "Better than alright."

Then they both look at each other and ask.

"What did you mean by that?"

"I just mean that, my brother who used to be an emotionless robot boy, has been walking around here looking at that girl like a starry eyed moon calf." Missy says

"I was with Amy earlier and she tells me everything. If anything was going on I would be the first to know." Penny says sipping her coffee casually.

"I don't know, Sheldon has been acting really weird since we got here. Something is definitely going on with him. Then I ran into Amy in the hall and she was acting even weirder than usual. I'm kind of worried."

"Maybe he has a secret he does not want you to know?" Missy says as Leonard's phone beeps and he bends down to look at it.

"What do you know?" Penny mouths to her.

"What do you know?" Missy mouths back. Penny glances over at Leonard and seeing that he is still occupied and makes a circle with her fingers with one hand and with her other hand she slides a finger through the circle. Missy covers her mouth to stifle a scream and holds up her right hand and points to the ring on it and taps it. Penny is unable to contain her excitement and screams out.

"What!" Leonard's head snaps up and he turns to give Penny a quizzical look.

"What are you doing Leonard? Don't you know it is rude to stare at your phone the whole time you are a guest in someone's house! Now if you'll excuse us, Missy has something to show me in her room right now." Penny and Missy get up and leave Leonard at the table with a baffled look on his face. He shrugs his shoulders and bends down to look at his phone again.

"Maybe it's not Sheldon, maybe it is just Texas." He says to himself."


	13. Chapter 13

"Let's try to talk quietly, Ayden is napping." Missy whispers at the entrance to her room but when she opens up the door Ayden is standing up in his crib.

Smiling at them he claps his hands. "Get me out Mama!." He says reaching out to Missy

"Little man, you should be asleep, we got a busy day ahead of us." Missy tells him lifting him out of the crib.

"I am not sleepy!" he says as Missy sets him down in a chair and hands him her phone.

"Here sugar booger why don't you watch some cartoons while Mama talks to Miss Penny."

"OK" Ayden says and he sits quietly watching something on Missy's phone.

"So tell me everything you know." Penny tells Missy sitting down on her bed.

"You go first." Missy says

"Why, your information is more exciting!" Penny tells her.

"Yes, but yours has already happened my information is just guesswork by my Mama and my Memaw at this point."

"Alright, well there is not much to say other than Amy told me that they finally, you know, did the deed. I'm sorry I don't know how much you want to hear about your brother that way."

"Honey I grew up with George Jr. Where Sheldon never tells you a thing about his life, Georgie has a bad habit of telling you everything! Even things you never wanted to know about your brother."

"George is rather, how shall we say, open… He really frightened Amy earlier this week."

"Oh Georgie just likes to play. What did he do? I know he slapped her on the ass. I have to say I have never been so shocked in my life than when I heard Shelly call Amy his woman."

"Oh that's nothing I've heard him call her 'dear Amy', but that is beside the point. It was more than a slap on the bottom that scared her. Penny recounts the story that Amy told her including her own first encounter with George. Missy listens shocked.

"Well I never! I am going to have to teach my brother a lesson in manners." Missy says getting up, but Penny stops her.

"I am all for that, but first you have to tell me what you know." Penny pleads.

"Oh right, well where should start? See my Memaw's engagement ring that my Pop gave her was truly beautiful, a real heirloom. Memaw had that ring for fifty years and she never took it off. When she was in the hospital, I asked her if she might leave it to me but she said that it had been on her hand for fifty years and it would be on there a hundred more."

"Sounds like true love." Penny says.

"It was, my Memaw never got over my Pop dying, well at least now they can be together again." Missy says getting misty eyed and Penny wraps her arm around her.

"As I was saying, Memaw had no plans on giving that ring to anybody, but when my Mama and Sheldon went to the lawyers to see about the will, they found out that she had left the ring to him. Now I can tell you that I was pretty bent out of shape about it at first but then my Mama told me that right before she died Memaw had it in her head that Sheldon was about to ask Amy to marry him. Or at least she really wanted for Sheldon to ask Amy to marry him and she thought the ring would be like her blessing.

"Wow, so Sheldon has the ring?" Penny asks and Missy nods her head.

"Been carrying it around in his pocket since he got it. But don't tell Sheldon I told you okay? I really have no clue what he actually intends to do. I mean before, if you had told me that he even had a girlfriend I would have thought you were crazy. " Missy tells her.

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, as long as mine is safe with you." Penny says getting up.

"My lips are sealed, now I just got to think of what to do to get back at Georgie." Missy says tapping her finger to her mouth.

* * *

><p>Amy rereads the letter, she has lost track of how many times she has read it at this point.<p>

Dear Memaw,

I received your missive last week and have just now found the time to reply. I am glad that George Jr. will be down for such an extended visit however I regret to inform you I will be unable to make it as well. What with starting my research in dark matter and the sabbatical I took last summer it is just not an ideal time for a visit.

I understand that you are anxious to finally meet Amy. To tell you the truth I am eager for you to meet her as well. I know that you will love her as much as I do because you love me and Amy truly is my other half. I always found that term contrived until I met her, but she lifts me up in the few areas that I fail.

I am going to tell you something that I have not told anyone yet, mostly because you have always been my confidant but also because I know the news will excite you. Do you remember the advice about the weeds you gave me last year? Well I followed it and I am going to ask Amy to marry me. Now don't go shouting from the hilltops just yet! I don't know when, maybe in a year or two, when things get more settled here. Definitely after Leonard marries Penny and moves out of the apartment.

I cannot see myself being happy without her in my life or living with anyone else but her. I remember how happy you and Pop were together, how I wished my own parents could find that happiness with each other. I never thought I would find that for myself, because I never thought that I wanted it, until I met Amy.

I am confident that we can find the time to visit sometime next summer. Amy has never been to Texas and I am sure she would find the area fascinating. At our last relationship summit we discussed the idea of going on vacation together but never came to a firm agreement. Amy wanted to go to the Exploratorium in San Francisco and I to the Museum of Computer history however I think I can make a rather convincing case for Texas. I hope this letter finds you well.

Love,

Moonpie

Amy does not know how to proceed. Reading that letter has left her speechless. She does not know what she expected, certainly nothing as perfect as this. Though she was curious to know what Sheldon's last words to his grandmother had been, she had not expected this. It was like skipping ahead to the end of a book and it ending the way you had hoped.

When Sheldon had left on his train trip, Amy had been devastated. So many things had gone through her mind during his absence. Would this be the end of their relationship, when all she had done was suggest they live together, but then how would he ever know what she wanted if she never told him.

How could she go back to him after he walked out on her like that? How could she continue to be with him when he saw no future with her beyond what they already had. If she stayed with him she would never have her dream of spending their life together watching their children play and grow.

She thought that when Sheldon came back and they would pretend like nothing had happened and he would never change That he would want them to carry on like they were now, forever, getting older, but still meeting for tea after work, still having date night on Thursdays. Then it occurred to her that that vision didn't seem absolutely awful because at least she would still have Sheldon in her life.

Sure she could break up with him and try to date someone else, maybe Bert, though Amy knew in her heart that she would only ever be happy with Sheldon. Sure Bert, or anyone else for that matter, may be more willing to give her what she wanted but she had never wanted those things before Sheldon. Before they had met she saw her life as going on the forced one date a year until her mother died then living the rest of her years alone. Being alone had never bothered her before, in fact, she had welcomed it. Now the thought of being without Sheldon terrified her.

Amy had made the decision then, that she loved him, and she loved him unconditionally. There was no expiration date or special terms to her feelings for him. If it meant not living together or not being physically intimate with him then she would accept that. Amy would put the reins of their relationship into his hands and go at whatever pace that he felt comfortable with.

When he did come back they talked for a long time, he told her he was sorry for leaving the way he did. Amy apologized for overwhelming him with the living together situation when he was already distraught. She told him that she would never bring it up again, unless it was something they talked about together.

Now, here she was reading how he plans on marrying her and this before they had actually made love. Amy felt a little like she was dreaming. Had she been in a car accident on the way to Sheldon's apartment and this was some crazy coma hallucination. She pinches herself hard on the arm and stares at the pink welt it leaves.

"Looks and feels real." she mumbles to herself. Then she hears a knock on the door and she shoves the letter back inside her sweater.

"Amy? Are you in there?" Penny calls through the door.

"Yeah, just a sec!" Amy calls standing up and flushing the toilet to give the illusion that she was just using the bathroom.

"Are you alright, you have been in there for a while."

"I am fine." Amy says opening up the door

"Leonard was worried about you, he said that you were acting odd." Penny tells her as they walk down the hall together.

"What would he know? He is odd." Amy tells her and Penny just sighs and nods her head in agreement.

"Anyway come with me." Penny says walking ahead of her.

"Where are we going?" Amy asks.

"You'll see." Penny says mysteriously.

* * *

><p>George Jr. is in the living room laying on the couch with his boots on. Missy, Penny, and Amy walk into the room with their arms crossed and stand in front of him blocking his view of the TV.<p>

"What did Mama tell you about sitting on the couch with them filthy boots on" Missy says

"Well how are you doing sister, almost my sister, and hot damn I am glad you are not my sister." George says cracking his knuckles and sitting up.

"What's this I hear about you harassing Amy and Penny?" Missy asks putting her hand on her hip.

"I wasn't harassing nobody." George says moodily spitting into a cola bottle.

"Oh, really, hot damn you better be glad I'm not you're sister. If I was I would kick you in the nuts like I used to with my brother when he pissed me off." Penny tells him.

"If it got you to touch my nuts then maybe it would be worth it?" George laughs

"How would you like me to do to you what I used to do when we was kids?" Missy says angrily

"I really don't understand why you are so bent out of shape Missy." George tells her crossing his legs and putting a pillow in his lap.

"I am bent out of shape because you are being rude to Shelly's friends and I don't want you to go running off Shelly's first girlfriend."

"Oh please, if Sheldon himself has not managed to run her off then I don't think a little teasing by me is going to finish the job, am I right almost sis?"

"No you're not right, I mean, I am not leaving Sheldon, but you know it was more than a little teasing. You accosted me, scared me, and said you were going to tell me the truth about Sheldon. Like he is some kind of evil doer." Amy tells him.

"He is an evil doer!" George exclaims.

"George what are you going on about, yes Sheldon built a death ray when we were kids but we both know he couldn't have even killed a fly with it." Missy says.

"He broke up Mama and Daddy's marriage! Hell he killed daddy!"

"Georgie you are crazy as a June-bug! Sheldon did do either of those things."

"Mama and Daddy would still be married if Sheldon had just been normal. But Mama always had to go cart him somewhere, take him to some specialist, drive him to some college. They were always fighting about him and you know that! Daddy thought we should not give into him all the time and try to raise him up normal and Mama was always going against him. Putting all that science crap in his head, letting him put on airs"

"Mama and Daddy spilt up because Daddy was an alcoholic skirt chaser! If Sheldon had been a dumb good old boy just like you Mama and Daddy would still have spilt up. Because Daddy would still have been going through a six pack of Jack every week! How did Sheldon kill Daddy? Daddy died of a heart attack because he drank like a fish and ate nothing but steak and French fry's!"

"Daddy drank so much because all of Sheldon's quirks stressed him out! He would still be alive if Sheldon had never been born!" George tells her. Upset and angry Missy walks up to him and slaps him across the face hard leaving a red handprint. With tears streaming, she points an accusing finger at him.

"Don't you dare talk like that! Memaw is gone, Daddy is gone, Pop is gone and you would dare to wish Sheldon away too! Maybe you should point the blame at yourself. Do you think it was easy for Mama and Daddy to have to constantly bail you out? You don't think Mama said the same things about you to Daddy as he said to her about Sheldon. That maybe if you had a proper role model at home she would not be bailing a fifteen year out of jail! Sheldon is not the evil doer you are." Missy says turning on her heel and stomps out of the room, Amy and Penny follow her leaving George to stare after them in stunned silence.

* * *

><p>Sheldon leaves his room a while later finding the house eerily quiet. Searching for Amy, he realizes that the house is empty. He glances at his watch wondering if they had gone out to eat, but it is only five o clock and not time for supper yet. Mary Cooper never ate supper before six o clock. Looking out the back door and sees Leonard sitting on the porch swing.<p>

"Where did everyone go?" he asks joining Leonard on the swing.

"Well you missed a pretty interesting couple hours. Let me see, Amy locked herself in the bathroom for twenty minutes, Penny and your sister bonded, and decided to confront your brother. That culminated in her slapping him across the face…"

"Who slapped George across the face Missy or Penny?" Sheldon interrupts.

"Missy did the slapping but apparently Penny threatened to kick him in the balls." Sheldon makes an impressed face.

"Why did they do that though?"

"To defend yours and Amy's honor I think, or just because he is a colossal asshat." Leonard tells him.

"Where is everyone now?" he asks.

"George left and no one knows where he went. Your Mom went to try and find him and Missy and the girls went with her. I stayed behind to fill you in on what happened and now you are all up to date." Leonard says patting him on the back and Sheldon covers his face with his hands and lets out a soft groan.

"And they wonder why I never brought Amy to visit before!" Sheldon moans.

"Your family wanted to meet Amy?"

"Yes, especially Memaw, in fact in her last letter to me she was practically begging me to come down with Amy for a visit. In fact she even said "Don't even bother coming if you ain't got your little girlfriend with you this time." I wish I had listened, then I could have had more time with her, it's like Professor Proton told me appreciate them now."

"When did Professor Proton tell you that?" Leonard asks.

"After he died he came to me in a vision dressed like Obi Wan." Sheldon tells him, Leonard just nods his head and changes the subject.

"Why do you think she wanted you to bring Amy so bad?"

"Well, I would say because Amy is a big part of my life now and she wanted to meet her. Also it may have something to do with this." He says fishing the little black box out of his pocket and hands it to Leonard. Leonard takes the box, opens it and then stares at the contents with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Is this…" he begins.

"My Memaw's engagement ring, worn by her for fifty years, and left to me in her will."

"What did she think, that you were going to ask Amy to marry you?"

"That is exactly what she thought." He tells him taking the ring back and staring at it.

"Why? I mean what would give her that idea?"

"Because I told her that I was."


	14. Chapter 14

"So do you have any idea where we are going to find George Jr.?" Penny asks as they all pile into Mary's SUV.

"Knowing him he will be sulking at his favorite bar, telling anyone who will listen, what a bitch his sister is." Missy sighs.

"Missy I just don't understand why you hauled off and hit your brother." Mary says looking in the rear view mirror at her.

"You should have heard him Mama! He was being so rude to Amy and Penny and then he said that Shelly should have never been born! "Missy exclaims.

"Mama, we do not hit our friends." Ayden says solemnly.

"I know honey, Mama did a bad thing." Missy tells him brushing the dark hair off his forehead and kissing him.

"Georgie takes after your father. He doesn't handle his emotions well. Instead of being sad and crying about Memaw he chooses act like… cover Ayden's ears honey." Missy does so as Mary adds. "We all know that Georgie is, excuse my French ladies, an asshole. That is a trait of all the Copper men, I am surprised Sheldon is acting as well as he is. We all remember how he reacted when Daddy died."

"What did he do when his father died?" Amy asks Mary from the passenger seat curious.

"Oh Sugar! It was awful! Shelly was away at college when it happened, so we had to call him back home. Well from the minute he stepped off the plane he was unbearable. Told me that death was just part of life and that his father's passing did not warrant taking him away from his research and making him miss three different tests."

"Shelly holed himself up in his room and would not leave. When we finally coaxed him out, it did not take long before we were practically begging him to go back in. The singing mouse at Chuck E. Cheese shows more emotion than he did." Missy snorts.

"Well I am sure he really was upset." Penny says.

"I expect after losing his grandfather at such a young age, it was probably hard for him to lose another male role model." Amy tells them.

"Well, his father and him had, shall we say, a complicated relationship. You see George Sr., may god rest his soul, thought that boys should behave in a certain way. So he was always trying to force Sheldon into doing what he thought boys his age should be doing. However, as you know, Shelly has never been too fond of anyone telling him how to do anything, so it led to a lot of butting heads and hurt feelings on both sides."

"Wasn't his father proud of having a prodigy as a son? People as highly intelligent as Sheldon are extremely rare." Amy says.

"George was proud, I mean we all were, but sometimes living with Shelly could be…"Mary begins

"A huge pain in the A. S. S." Missy finishes spelling out ass.

"What's an ass? Why did you spell it Mama?" Ayden asks.

"It's a donkey sweet pea." Mary tells him and he seems mollified.

"Oh my god! He is like really smart. Is he like uncle Sheldon smart?" Penny asks her impressed.

"We have not gotten him tested or anything yet, but he does seem to be taking after his Uncle Shelly".

"My Uncle is a genie." He tells Penny.

"No Uncle Shelly is a genius and so are you." Amy tells him and he giggles.

* * *

><p>"Were you just trying to make her feel better before she died when you told her you were going to marry Amy?" Leonard asks still dumbfounded by the revelation.<p>

"I had no idea that she was sick, and even if I had known I would never feed her false hopes like that." Sheldon says annoyed.

"Then why tell her that?" Leonard asks.

"Why tell her that? Leonard are you asking a serious question?"

"If you have no plans of marrying Amy, then why would you tell your grandmother that you did?"

"Whoever said I had no plans of marrying Amy?"

"Well this is the first I've have heard of it." Leonard says exasperated.

"There is a reason for that. If I had told you, even in the strictest confidence, then you would have told Penny. Then Penny would have told everyone, even people not included in our group. Within a span of a day I would not be able to go anywhere without answering queries about my upcoming nuptials. Do you know who Memaw told?"

"No."

"No one. That woman literally took my secret to her grave. That was not easy for her either. She always told my mother everything and my mom has no clue."

"Sheldon this is crazy, you can't marry Amy."

"Why not, do you not think we are well suited to one another?"

"No, I think that you are perfectly suited for each other, it's just that…" Leonard pauses struggling to form his thoughts

"It's just that… what…" Sheldon challenges angrily.

"Sheldon I know you love Amy."

"Yes I do, and she loves me back."

"No one is arguing that, but how are you going to consummate a marriage?"

"Are you saying that due to our perceived lack of intimacy you think that our prospects of sustaining a marriage are low?" Sheldon says hurt.

"Well yeah." Leonard says a little sheepishly.

"I will have you know that prior to the 20th century it was considered the norm to wait until marriage to explore the intimate side of your relationship. Just because you and everyone else choose to fornicate with every willing body who will have you does not mean I am wrong." He says hotly getting up.

"If it was just that it would be one thing, but Sheldon, you can barely kiss her. If I thought for a second that Amy felt the same way and would be happy in a marriage like that I would be all for it."

"So you do not think I have what it takes to make Amy happy? I will have you know that Amy is very happy and you wonder why I do not tell you things." He says storming off back to the house banging the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Mary drives into the parking lot of a rundown looking shopping center. There is a check cashing store and a bodega advertising calling cards. On the very end of the shopping center is a seedy looking bar. Its grimy front identifies it as Mr. Pete's, with the attractions of cold beer and pool to encourage customers inside. Parked out front is George's pick-up truck.<p>

"So I take it that this is not the good side of town." Amy asks looking around.

"Mama! We cannot take Ayden in there! There is no telling what kind language he will pick up in this place."

"I suppose you are right, someone is going to have to wait in here with him while we go flush Georgie out."

"Georgie is going to want to talk to me as I am the one who hit him." Missy says.

"Yeah and I am the one who threatened to kick him in the balls, besides I am not the most comfortable around kids." Penny says apologetically.

"I'll stay." Amy volunteers. "I am in no rush to see George again and I like kids."

"Thank you Amy!" Missy says and turning to Ayden "Now you stay here with your Aunt Amy while Mama, Nana, and Miss Penny go get Uncle Georgie. Be good, okay sugar booger?"

Amy does not miss the distinction of herself being called Aunt. At first she had assumed it was one of those southern things, that all familiar adults were identified as aunt or uncle. Yet Penny was not Aunt Penny she was Miss Penny. Amy flushes with pride. The distinction set her mind reeling. Was she called aunt because she was staying with his uncle therefore making it easier to explain? Or did Missy and Mary know something that Amy herself had only just recently found out?

"Okay Mama." Ayden tells her as she kisses him on the forehead. The three ladies make their way into the dark bar.

"Aunt Amy?" she hears a small voice ask.

"Yes?" Amy asks hoping it has nothing to do with diapers or going to the potty. Viewing her surroundings there is really no good options to take him.

"Are you a genie too, like Uncle Shelly?"

"G-e-n-i-u-s , genius, it means someone who is exceptionally smart, and yes I am also a genius." Amy tells him turning in her seat to look at him. He really is very cute with is mop of dark hair and his bright blue eyes. It's funny to hear him say such big words and it makes her wonder if this was what Sheldon was like at this age, she also wonders if Sheldon realizes how much potential his little nephew has.

"I like you." he says decidedly

"I like you too, you're just my type. Smart, dark haired, and handsome." She tells him tickling him on his belly making him he laughs.

* * *

><p>Leonard goes in search of Sheldon feeling bad about how he reacted to his news. He knew he should have been more supportive of his friend, it was just that the information had shocked him. He would never have guessed that this was what Sheldon had been planning. Leonard knocks tentatively on the door of Sheldon's room.<p>

"You in there buddy."

"Yes."

"Can I come in?"

"No."

"I want to apologize. Please Sheldon."

"Fine. It's not locked. My mother took the locks off all the bedroom doors in the house when we were children." Sheldon tells him.

"Why?" Leonard asks as he enters the room.

"My brother's has to do with an incident involving a stack of magazines stolen from my father. My sister's was because of her promiscuous teenage years."

"Then why is the lock off yours."

"I once locked myself inside and played The Legend Zelda for 72 hours straight. They had to take the door off the hinges to get me out and force me to eat and shower. It was the best summer of my life." Sheldon says with a far off look in his eyes.

"I had a similar incident involving The Ocarina of Time." Leonard says sitting next to him on the bed.

"Few could resist the lure of Link and his quests."

"Sheldon listen, I am sorry for what I said out there okay?" Leonard adjusts his glasses and massages the bridge of his nose. "You just surprised me that's all. If you want to ask Amy to marry you I think that's great." Sheldon looks at him and sighs.

"Thank you, it's just that you really touched a nerve out there."

"Because you are worried that you will not be able to perform for Amy the way she may be expecting you too?" Leonard asks. Sheldon just stares at him blankly before answering.

"No just listen, alright?"

"I am all ears."

"Let's see where to start… do you remember what you said to me at Prom about me not having hormones?" he asks.

"Yeah, but Sheldon, I was joking. I am sorry if I hurt your feelings." Sheldon holds up a hand to stop him from talking.

"Leonard, I do have hormones. As you must assuredly know, all human beings do. I just had no interest in acting on them before. I had never found another human being I was attracted to in that way. Then I met Amy, who has systematically made me question everything. And everything I thought I knew about myself and my body has changed."

"Are you saying that you want to get physical with Amy now?"

"Leonard, I am saying that I have been physical with Amy."

"What? When?" Leonard says shocked.

"Well first last night, then this afternoon, actually on this very bed." Leonard looks down at the bed sheets grossed out.

"Sheldon this is kind of a big deal. When did you change your mind about all this?"

"Which part? About the wanting to marry her or the coitus?"

"Both actually."

"Well, I have always found Amy to be the most beautiful woman I have ever met."

"More than Penny?"

"Please Leonard, Penny may have a certain Midwestern charm but Amy… she is like a classical masters painting come to life with her regal bearing and aquiline features." Sheldon says dreamily.

"Ok Amy is very pretty. But you have known her for a long time."

"Yes and I have struggled with my impulse's for a long time. I thought I was above all the baser urges that normal people feel, then I met her and that belief has been turned on its head. When I went on my trip I was still struggling with my feelings for her. I knew then that what I felt for her was something profound and, quite frankly, it scared me. So I went on my trip hoping the distance between us would give me some perspective. But all I could think about when I was away was her. She was on my mind constantly. I knew then that my life would never be the same without her in it."

"Sheldon that is beautiful, but that was almost a year ago. Why chose now to change your mind about the physical side of your relationship?"

"My mind has been changed for a while. I've just been too scared to act on it"

"I think I understand and I am happy for you. I should be happy for you right?"

'Yes I suppose you should. I have just reached a huge milestone in my life, the sentiment is appropriate."

"So... how was it." Leonard asks playfully nudging him with his shoulder

"Leonard!" he says shocked "A gentleman does not kiss and tell."

"Oh come on, for years now you have ragged on me about my sex life! Telling me how ridiculous and gross you thought the practice was. So was it as awful as you imagined it would be?"

"No it was not awful. I suppose I can see now how one could become enthralled with the practice." He says coyly.

"You dog!" Leonard says slapping him on the shoulder.

* * *

><p>Penny has been in a lot of seedy bars in her day but this one really takes the cake. It is dark and smoky inside with an odor of sweat and stale beer that makes her wrinkle her nose. She scans the thin crowd for Sheldon's brother, but all the patrons look the same. Big hulking red necks who look up and stare as they enter, as if they have never seen a woman before.<p>

"There he is." Missy says and she leads the way to a booth in the back where they find George drinking a dark liquid out of a tumbler. As they approach him he stares up at them with bleary red rimmed eyes.

"Well hey there Penny! You change your mind about you and me! Come here to get your drink on?" He says hazily.

"Not on your life." Penny tells him.

"Then why are you here?"

"We're here to drag your sorry butt home so that you can sober up in time for your grandmother's funeral tomorrow." Mary says slapping her hand on the table.

"Oh shit! Sorry, I mean golly! I didn't see you there Mama." George says giggling.

"He is three sheets to the wind." Missy says disgusted "You'd think after all we went through with Daddy he would know better."

"You gonna slap me again Missy? Hey why aren't ya'll with your precious baby boy Sheldon!" he says bitterly, draining the rest of glass and signaling the waitress for another.

"Georgie there ain't no reason to be jealous of your brother. We love both of you just the same." Mary tells him putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Speak for yourself." Penny grumbles under her breath.

"Now come on let's get out of this den of inequity and get home. Missy is sorry for slapping you. All our emotions are running mighty high right now." By this time the waitress has returned with another drink which Penny grabs before George can, and knocks it back in one herself.

"You're cut off." she tells him handing a fifty to the waitress hoping that will cover his tab.

"Dang girl, you drink like a man!" he says impressed.

"Come on Georgie, let's go home." Missy says pulling him up. He staggers to his feet and stumbles forward. Missy and Mary help him navigate out of the bar balancing his weight between them.

"He can't drive Mama." Missy tells her.

"I can drive! I once drove from Charlotte to Knoxville worse off than this." George tells them.

"I'll drive him." Penny says.

"Gippyyap little blondie! I will let you drive me wherever you want go!" Georgie says and he digs in his pocket and tosses her the keys.

"Yeah? Well you just may change your mind about that." Penny tells him walking around the side of the truck and opening the door.

* * *

><p>The guys are starting to get worried when the sun starts going down and no one has returned. When they see Mary's SUV pull up into the driveway followed by George's truck. As they walk out to meet them they see George springing from the passenger side of the truck and rushing into the house.<p>

"What's wrong with him?" Leonard asks.

"I may have shown him how we drive trucks in Nebraska." Penny says mysteriously walking in after George.

"So what did you do to poor George?" Leonard asks Penny later that night as they lay on the fold out couch.

"I took him to an abandoned parking lot and did doughnuts until he blew chunks all over the side of his truck." Penny says smiling.

'Why did you do that?" Leonard asks unable to hide his smile.

"To teach him a lesson! The saying may be don't mess with Texas but I wanted to show him you shouldn't fuck with Nebraska either. Also I wanted to help in sober up for the funeral tomorrow. I was actually doing him a favor." Penny tells him.

"Speaking of doing people favors, I want to tell you something but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

"Does it have something to do with a certain physicist and a certain neurobiologist we know recently knocking boots? Or does it have to do with the ring he has been carrying around in his pocket?" Penny asks smugly.

"How did you know that? Why am I always the last person to know these things?" Leonard says incredulously.

"Come on Amy basically tweets her entire life to me, do you think she would not tell me that!" Penny tells him.

"About the ring in his pocket or the boot knocking?"

"The sex of course, I do not think she knows anything about the ring. Hold on how did you know about it?" Penny asks.

"He showed it to me, told me that he is going to ask Amy to marry him." Leonard tells her.

"Shut up!" Penny exclaims slapping him on the chest "When, how!"

"I didn't ask. Wait don't you know, you seem to be the one with all the inside intel."

"I just heard from Missy that he had been left the ring, and that everyone was hoping that it meant he wanted to marry Amy." Penny tells him. "Why did you not grill him for more information? All I have is hearsay but you had an opportunity to get the whole story."

"Honestly Penny, I was in too much shock to ask him for more details. I kept waiting for him to say bazinga and he never did."

* * *

><p>Amy is in the bathroom brushing her teeth when she hears a tap on the door.<p>

"Occupied." She calls through a mouth full of toothpaste. "Good grief, how did five people share this one bathroom for so long?" she grumbles to herself.

"It's me." Sheldon calls, "As long as you are not evacuating your bowels or bladder let me in." Amy opens the door and Sheldon walks in dressed in his pajamas and robe and carrying his toiletry case. He sets the case down and extracts his toothbrush from its case beginning his nightly routine. Amy does not say anything but studies his every move. It feels so intimate standing next to him brushing their teeth.

"I heard you had an interesting day." Sheldon tells her and she sees him raise his eyebrows in the mirror.

"To say the least. You know I used to lament the fact that I had no siblings but now I think that I dodged a bullet being an only child." She tells him.

"Amen to that sister." He tells her spitting out his toothpaste into the sink. Amy wraps floss around her finger thoughtfully.

"However I did get to spend some time with your nephew today. Did you know how intelligent he is? Only eighteen months old and he talks better than most ten year olds. He calls me Aunt Amy and he told me his Uncle is a genie, isn't that adorable."

"Yes, the little tyke is rather endearing for a small child. I always knew that there was the potential for greatness resting in my sister's loins. Just think what a child of our combined DNA could be like." His casual remark makes her feel tingly but she chooses to ignore it and changes the subject. Staying on this topic for too long would make it hard for her to keep what she knows to herself.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" she asks sympathetically.

"Is anyone ever ready for it?" he sighs and he fills up a cup with mouthwash and gargles.

"Are you going to be okay to speak?" she asks him as she packs up her bag. She watches his throat, fascinated as his Adams apple bobs up and down as he swallows hard.

"I am going to have to be." He tells her packing up his bag in turn and opening the door waving her ahead of him.

"Just remember what I taught you the last time you had to speak in front of crowd. Pick a focal point and just focus on that the entire time you are speaking. Let the crowd melt away and just focus on that one thing. What did you say you did last time? When you accepted that award from Physics Today?" Amy asks him as they enter his bedroom.

"I told you that I imagined Spiderman was dangling from the rafters upside down on his web… Amy I lied." Sheldon adds softly.

"You lied, about what?" Amy asks concerned, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach.

"About Spiderman, I did not picture him." Sheldon says hanging his head out of shame or embarrassment Amy can't tell which.

"Well that's okay, you were still able to deliver a beautiful speech. I know I was there and I was so proud of you." Amy had really been exceptionally proud, so much so that she must have told everyone she talked to that night that he was her boyfriend. Amy puts her hand on his shoulder and he grasps it giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Do you want to know what I really did?" he asks looking up at her his voice husky.

"Sure." She says her throat going dry.

"Well I was already on the stage and I started feeling faint. I had planned on the Spiderman trick but my mind could not focus on him so I desperately searched for your face in the crowd. Out of that sea of faces I was able to find yours. We locked eyes for just a moment and then you gave me the thumbs up. I did not want to disappoint you, we had worked so hard on practicing the speech, and you had taught me all those techniques. I just knew if I failed I would see those sad eyes that you get when you are disappointed and I did not want to see sad eyed Amy. I wanted to walk off that podium and have excited sparkly eyed Amy waiting for me. So I focused on that. My prize was your eyes as it were."

"Sheldon you would not have disappointed me, I love you and I even if I had had to carry you off that stage I would have still been proud of you." Amy tells him.

"Amy before I met you I was ignorant to my failings. I went through life unaware of what a half-life I was living. Then I met you and you showed me all the areas of my life that I was lacking. Not by pointing them out or telling me that I needed to change, but by being such a shining example of what is good and right. Amy, I made a vow to myself a long time ago that I would try to be a better man for you."

"You are a good man, you do not have to change a thing for me. I love you just the way you are."

"I know, for some strange reason you love and accept me, quirks and all, the way no one else ever has. Except maybe for my Memaw which is why I think she wanted you to have this." Sheldon tells her taking something out of the pocket of his robe and sinking down to the ground to his knee.

"Sheldon…I…" Amy is speechless tears are streaming down her face.

"Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler would you do me the great honor of shifting the paradigm of our relationship by becoming my wife."

"Yes." Amy says stunned almost speechless as he takes her hand and slips the ring on.

"I am sorry if this seems sudden, but it really is not. I have been thinking about this for a long time. The urgency came when I told Leonard about it today and then as we all know it would be only a matter of time before Penny told everyone." He tells her getting off the ground and sitting on the computer chair.

"Sheldon there is something I need to tell you. Even if Penny had told me, it would not come as entirely a surprise. I found this while cleaning out your grandmother's house." Amy retrieves the letter from the drawer where she has hidden it. She hands it to him and waits for him to get angry. He takes the letter and unfolds it carefully barely glancing at it before setting it down his expression unreadable. "I am so sorry Sheldon, I should not have been prying into your personal correspondence with your Memaw."

"How long have you known about this?" he asks his voice barely above a whisper.

"I found the letter this morning and saw the date and wanted to read it. But you came up the stairs and I did not want to upset you, so I brought it back to the house .I just read it a couple hours ago, please don't be mad at me Sheldon I had no idea what would be in the letter." Amy pleads.

"Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you? You were asked to help sort and organize her house. In order to ascertain the importance of the correspondence you had to open it up and read it. You were bound by the rules of the closet organizer/ organizee contract. No I am just shocked that she kept the letters I sent her, and pleasantly surprised that this one has found its way back into my possession." He tells her giving her a crooked smile.

**Thank you so much for reading and reviewing the story, reviews are always appreciated. I would like to thank Shamy4eva for helping me with this chapter. Only one chapter left till it ends.**


	15. Chapter 15

Sheldon walks through the front door of Memaw's house. He feels like he is walking into one of Amy's old movies. Everything turns grainy and gray and he can hear a tinkling tune like a music box playing in the distance. The tune seems familiar but he cannot place it as he heads towards the sound. Everything in the house seems distorted somehow, in the right place but still somehow off. It is giving him a creepy feeling as he walks through the halls. The pictures on the walls are wrong he realizes, the settings are the same but the people in them are much older than when the original picture was taken. It is as if the likenesses had aged as time moved on.

He comes to the picture of his Pop that had always hung next to the lamp by his office and is horrified to see that he is just bones in a suit. Sheldon screams and starts running down the hall desperately trying to get to the source of the music. He reaches the room at the end, what had once been the playroom he and his sister used when they visited. He opens the door and sees Memaw in her rocking chair. She is holding a snow globe and inside is a little bride and groom. She holds out the snow globe to him, he takes it and peers inside. With horror he realizes that it is he and Amy and they are desperately knocking against the glass trying to get out. Sheldon screams again, drops the globe and watches as it shatters.

"Sheldon." Memaw says

"No Memaw! Let us out!" me mumbles.

"Sheldon wake up." He hears Amy's voice, husky with concern "You are okay, I am right here." She says as she wraps her arms around his middle.

"Amy, I had such a bad dream." he tells her holding her close like he used to do with his teddy bear when he was little and would get a nightmare. He inhales deeply, the scent of her hair calming him down.

"It is only to be expected, dreams are the minds way of sorting out the problems and worries that are concerning you. Seeing what a stressful day you had yesterday and the one that awaits you today it is no wonder your brain is overloaded. Would you like to talk about it? I will understand if you do not want to, but it might help."

"It was just so vivid and real." He begins telling her about the dream in its entirety. Amy listens with rapt attention saying nothing until he has reached the end.

"Sheldon, I know you think that analyzing dreams is mumbo jumbo but I think this one can be easily interpreted."

"Oh really, you find my mind so easy to pick apart?" he asks bemused.

"No not at all, your mind is a beautiful labyrinth that I expect I will never fully understand. Yet in this one instance I think I can offer some insights." Amy tells him looking up at his face. He is gazing back down at her with what she could on describe reverence.

"Alright my little brain monkey, pick away." He tells her.

"Well the walking into your grandmother's house and it turning into black in white is simple enough. You are back in your child hood home, so in many ways it is like traveling into the past. The pictures aging on the walls, is your feeling that while everything remains the same everything is completely different. You are still squabbling with you siblings but the subject matter has changed. Pop as bones on the wall is your fear of death, and you trying to process the death of your grandmother. Us trapped in the snow globe is a manifestation of your anxiety of our new engagement. Perhaps you feel trapped here in your childhood home, and you are anxious about the reaction others will have when you make the announcement. Perhaps even worried that some may say you are only doing it in a fulfillment of your Memaw's last wish, which is why she is holding the snow globe. "Amy tells him

Sheldon considers her words "You are right. I have been worried about breaking the news of our engagement." He says finally.

"I would understand if you did not want to tell anyone yet. Maybe wait until we are back home and your Memaw's death is not so fresh in everyone's minds." Amy tells him, though if it were up to her she would tell everyone. It has taken all her strength to refrain from changing her Facebook relationship status from 'in a relationship' to 'engaged'.

"I have thought about that, also I would not want to be accused of trying to overshadow an event like this. But then on the other hand, I have also thought about how the news might lift my mother's spirits a little." He sighs his hand nervously tapping her lower back.

"I don't think anyone would accuse you of purposely overshadowing your grandmother's funeral." Amy tells him.

"You would be surprised. I was the youngest person ever to receive The Stephenson Award, and the day I was to be presented with the award turned out to be was the same day as my sisters dance recital. To this day she has not forgiven me for it."

"Sheldon this is completely different situation, I am sure she would take this news much better. However if you wish maybe we should just tell a few people, perhaps just your mother, Leonard and Penny."

"If I tell my Mother she will tell Missy and if you tell Penny she will tell everyone. It will go on twitter and Facebook before it we even stop speaking. The sight of you with that ring will not go unnoticed however." Sheldon says picking up her hand and examining it, rolling the ring around on her finger.

"Do you want me to take it off?" Amy asks, even though this is the last thing she wants to do, if it were up her the ring would never leave her finger ever again.

"No, keep it on. What I was suggesting is that maybe we let everyone see you with the ring and let them infer what they will." He tells her looking into her eyes.

"So, you are suggesting that we forgo an official announcement for now, but if someone were to inquire as to why I am wearing the ring we would not deny it?" Amy asks.

"Yes. Is that agreeable to you?" he asks.

"I think it is the perfect solution to our little conundrum. Now let's try and get back to sleep, its only three in the morning." She says moving to give him a soft kiss on the cheek but he moves his face and she catches his lips. Unsure whether he moved to dodge the kiss or meet her lips she tries to break away. The hand that had been tapping on her back now flattens and pulls her closer to him answering her unspoken question.

Amy's mind is going a million miles an hour on one hand she wants nothing more than to make love to him again. It amazes her how just one touch from his lips can set her on fire, but she also realizes that he is vulnerable right now. He has just had a bad nightmare, he is laying his grandmother to rest tomorrow and his emotions are confused. Then she feels his hand slide up the back of her nightgown coming to rest on her backside and give it a gentle squeeze fanning the flames of the fire building within her and reminding her off the time he threw her over his knees smacked her.. This is my fiancé she thinks, and she comes to the sudden realization that she can do all the things with him now that she only dreamed of doing before.

She starts by kissing his neck trailing kisses up till she reaches his jawline where she nips her way back to his mouth. She kisses him deeply exploring his mouth with her own. Then she rolls him gently onto his back and climbs on top of him. Amy starts to unbutton his pajama top frustrated to find the extra layer of white t-shirt underneath.

"Do you always wear two layers?" She asks impatiently as she tugs the shirt over his head.

"Yes, but so do you." He says a little breathlessly, utterly enthralled by the vixen before him.

"Not always." Amy says pulling off her nightgown now only clad in her panties. Sheldon's hands move to cup her exposed breasts. Amy grinds her hips against him and feels him pressed against her, straining against his pajamas.

"I like this." He says pulling her hips down against him and trusting upwards. "It reminds me of how I used to release my, ahem tensions, before I perfected the art of koh-lin-ar." He tells her sitting up suddenly so they are face to face.

"Interesting, tell me more." She whispers kissing his neck again.

"Well, when I first started developing as an adolescent it was a very confusing time for me. I started having urges and feelings I did not understand, I would be working on a calculus problem and things for lack of a better word would 'pop up'." He tells her between kisses murmuring against her mouth. Sheldon's habit of talking whilst his mouth was pressed against hers had at first annoyed her until the day she asked him why he could not stop talking long enough to kiss her. His reply that actually it was the other way around that he did not want to stop kissing her long enough to talk had pacified her bruised ego and she had grown to find it endearing.

"Oh that must have been embarrassing at school."

" Exactly, sometimes it would go away on its own, but sometimes it would not and I would do what we are doing now, only against my pillow. "

"I was always under the impression that you had never done any 'tension reliving'." Amy says surprised

"Well it is not exactly a subject that you bring up in polite company." He says pausing and looking at her seriously as she smiles at him.

"No, I guess you are right about that." She tells him pushing him gently back down onto the pillows. Amy runs her hands down his chest, letting her fingers run through the smattering of chest hair and the light trail of hair that leads to the top of his pajama pants. She hears his breathing hitch and she looks down at him to see him staring up at as if she were a goddess. And in this moment Amy does feel like a goddess, on top of him, possessing him completely.

"Do you trust me?" She asks sliding off him and tugging off his pajamas.

"Implicitly." He says his breath catching as Amy slides further down his body coming to rest between his legs and taking him into her hands

"Amy, you don't have to… Oh my!" He gasps as she takes him into her mouth, she tests the length, then teases the tip. "Oh god, you are a vixen!" He gasps as she continues her ministrations. "Why'd you stop?" He says bereft when she releases him and stands up.

"We are going to need this." She says retrieving a condom from the night stand and going back to him. Amy rolls it on him and then removes her panties, lowers herself onto him and begins to rock gently. Sheldon lets her move at her own rhythm and runs his hands up and down her body pausing only to caress her breasts then settling on her behind. Amy is surprised that Sheldon is letting her take so much control, maybe he likes to be controlled in the bedroom she thinks just before he grabs her by her hips and flips her over. Their bodies still connected as he grabs her leg and hitches it around his waist.

"I think I have let you have enough fun." He tells her his eyes smiling but his face completely serious.

"Oh, I was under the impression that we both were in on the fun." She tells him matching his serious expression with one of her own.

"Yes, but I was letting you have the lions share. Now it is my turn to play." He tells her giving her a crooked little smile that makes her tremble.

"Well unlike you, I play very well with others." She says winking at him and giggling.

"Is that so?" he bends down to kiss her, pushing deeper into her as he does and she cries out at the sensation. "Shh" he hushes her whispering into her ear. "We don't want to wake the house." But then he begins an assault on her body that makes it nearly impossible not to cry out. It seems like his hands and mouth are everywhere as he continues to explore every inch of her. She is amazed but not displeased at how quickly has learned the rhythms of her body. Each movement hitting her in the exact right spot until she has to throw a pillow over her face to keep from screaming as she reaches her climax. Sheldon finds his release at the same time and flops off her panting into his pillow.

"You were right that was fun." Amy tells him rolling over and snuggling into her pillow suddenly very sleepy. He wraps his arm around her and soon they are both fast asleep.

...

"Where is that boy?" Mary asks annoyed, "It is nearly 9:30 and Sheldon has not emerged from his bedroom yet."

"That's odd, at home he wakes up at the ass crack of dawn." Penny remarks taking a sip of her coffee, caffeinated thanks to the can Amy bought at the store yesterday.

"Well he better get up and in here soon! We have a whole mess of things to do before the funeral! In all my years knowing Shelly I have never known him to sleep in so late when there are things to do. Usually it is him nagging me to get up." Missy says.

"I have to admit it is odd, the only time he sleeps in at home is if he is sick otherwise he wakes up at 7:30 every day." Leonard remarks.

"Aww, hell I'll go check on him." George says getting up

"Wait, I mean he has got Amy in there with him." Penny says pointedly.

"So, that don't mean nothing." He tells her already striding down the hall and throwing the door to Sheldon's room wide open. "Rise and…" the hear George begin before they hear Amy scream and Sheldon shout

"Dear Lord! Shut the door!" George shuts the door hastily and hurries back to the kitchen red faced.

"They are up." he says grabbing his coffee and walking out of the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" Mary asks.

"To go burn my eyeballs out." He calls over his shoulder.

...

Amy stands in the shower and laughs to herself. What George had seen was a little embarrassing but mostly she felt like he had gotten what he deserved for barging in on them. She had woken up feeling happy, languid, and a little sore with her arm wrapped around a still nude Sheldon. Amy had laid there quietly for a moment studying his back memorizing the musculature and ridges. Suddenly she had been overcome with the *urge to kiss the top of his spine, the back of his neck just where his hair hit. As soon as she had done this he had flipped over to face her looking incredibly beautiful with his tousled hair and sleepy eyes.

"Just what do you think you are doing." .

"Nothing." Amy says casually placing her hands on his chest.

"Hmmm…it didn't feel like nothing. It seems to me that last night's amorous activities were not enough to satisfy you." The expression on his face unreadable and she cannot tell if he is teasing her or not.

"It was just a little kiss." she says shyly.

"Well, that may be so, but if last night's activities were not enough to satiate you I think I can oblige." He tells her just before grabbing her by the waist and flipping over so he is flat on his back with her straddling him.

"I thought you did not like it when I have all the fun?" Amy asks laughing.

"I never said I didn't like it." he said reaching up to touch her breasts and that is where George burst through the door and Amy jumped off of him. Now let George think of Sheldon as a sexless robot she thinks smugly.

….

"Good Morning." Sheldon says in a sing song voice as he sits down at the breakfast table and his mother gives him a look. "Oh right funeral today." He says catching her expression and changes it to a somber "Good Morning."

"No. It's ok Memaw would want us to celebrate her life and be able to move on and be happy." She tells him as she hands him a plate of food. He picks up the fork and begins to eat with gusto.

"You hungry darling?" Mary asks cautiously.

"Famished" He replies picking up a piece of toast and biting into it.

"All that physical activity works up an appetite." Leonard says sniggering into his coffee. Sheldon looks up at him with a shocked expression on his face.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Sheldon says giving him a hard look.

"Sure you don't." he says giving him an exaggerated wink.

"Well, if you will excuse me I am going to see if the shower is free." he says standing up, putting his plate in the sink and storming off down the hall.

"Leonard, don't tease him so much." Penny says.

"Excuse me, I have been berated by that guy for seven years about my sex life, it is his just desserts to get teased a little" Leonard tells her.

"Yeah but you can handle it. He might dust off his old death ray and see if he can get it to work." Penny says.

….

An hour later everyone is assembled in the living room wearing black and looking somber.

"Alright, well Missy, Sheldon, George and I better shove off and get to the church and help set things up. Are you sure ya'll don't mind setting things up here and then heading to the church to hand out the programs."

"Not at all Mary." Amy tells her.

"We are more than happy to help Mrs. Cooper." Leonard tells her.

"As long as we get to drive the mustang there I am fine." Penny tells her.

"Well don't get to attached to that car, we are selling it on Monday." Mary tells her as they head out the door.

….

"It doesn't even look like her." Sheldon says gazing down at his grandmother one last time.

"Well sugar, it isn't really her, this is just her shell, she is really…"

"Mother if you don't mind I would like to skip over all the 'her soul is in heaven' talk. I know it brings comfort to you, but to me it rings hollow. I am not trying to be disrespectful, truly I am not. "

"You are hurting, darling and so am I." she tells him wrapping her arm around him and resting her head on his shoulder. To her surprise and delight he wraps his arm around her and gives her a kiss on the top of her head.

"I am going to miss her." He says choking up.

"I know, me too, me too. Sheldon honey, things come in a circle though, I am sure even you, with all your fancy schooling can see that. Memaw is gone and that is mighty sad, but I think you have some happy news that you have been holding back." Mary says looking up at him.

"Did you happen to see Amy's right hand before we left the house?" he asks

"I did."

"And from that can you infer what my news might be?"

"I can. And let me tell you honey, I know that you may be afraid to let everyone know given the situation at hand but let me say, I think nothing would have pleased Memaw more than to know you were happy. That you had someone to love you and take care of you when she was gone."

….

Amy finds she pew where Sheldon is sitting and slides in next to him. For the past thirty minutes she and Penny have been handing our programs and fielding questions about their relationship to the family. They encountered a dozen or so encounters like this:

"Are you two of Stumpy's girls?"

"No, I am Amy, Sheldon's girlfriend and this Penny his friend and neighbor."

"Oh no honey, Shelly, he don't go in for girls like that."

Until eventually Amy and Penny just started agreeing that yes they were Stumpy's girls.

Amy grabs his hand and gives it a squeeze, his hand is clammy and he looks very nervous.

"You are on after the choir sings, are you going to be okay? The crowd is bigger than I expected it to be." Amy whispers to him and he nods weakly.

"What can I say, she was a popular woman." He swallows deeply. The choir finishes and the preacher announces that her grandson Dr. Sheldon Cooper has a few words he would like to say on her behalf. Sheldon releases Amy's hand, walks up to the pulpit and looks nervously around at the crowd before beginning.

"When I started writing this eulogy I wanted to start out with a quote by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross that says "It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive - to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are."

Then I pictured Mother saying "Now Shelly don't you go spouting off them fancy words at your grandmother's funeral. It makes other people feel bad when they can't understand what you are saying"

Then I thought that I would use a quote by the great philosopher Soren Kierkegaard "Life can be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards." Then again I heard my sister's voice saying "Now Shelly, just because you got a degree in philosophy does not mean you can go shoving it down everyone's throats all the time."

When I was a small child I was what my father described as a pain in the ass, my sister called me a know it all but my Memaw, she preferred the term precocious. When you are a precocious child you are often told to "hush up", or told "don't ask me that how would I know?" But Memaw never treated me like that. We used to sit in her rocking chair and I could ask her all the questions I wanted. She would answer them all to the best to her abilities and the ones she couldn't answer we would look up in her ancient set of Encyclopedias.

It was not long though before I learned to read and I would read her set of Encyclopedias from cover to cover. My knowledge had surpassed hers by the time I turned six but that does not mean I did not still turn to her for wisdom. Memaw was full of wisdom like "Honey, don't slaughter the pig if no one asked for bacon." I looked to her for give advice all the time. In fact one of the greatest pieces of advice I have received came from her fairly recently.

I was distraught by a lot of changes that had lately come into my life and I was complaining to Memaw about some of them in a letter. In her reply she told me a story, that sometimes in her garden this weed would appear. No matter what she did to dispose of it, it would just keep reappearing like its roots were just too strong to destroy. One summer evening she was out in her garden and realized that that weed had grown a beautiful flower. It turns out it was not a weed but an evening primrose a useful and attractive plant. Then she wrote "Now Moonpie, quit plucking at them weeds and see what happens when you let that flower grow."

I took that to mean stop trying to control the actions of those around me. Stop trying to thwart others efforts to get close to me and see what happens when I let things go naturally, which went against every bone in body. Yet I did listen to her and stopped plucking at the proverbial weeds in my life.

In the last letter I wrote to her just two weeks before she died I let her know how profoundly that piece of advice had affected me. How since I had stopped plucking at the weeds I had never been happier.

I wish she could have seen her advice to me in action, I wish I could have seen her one more time. I don't know what awaits us in the beyond, but I hope that somewhere in a different dimension she knows what an affect she had on all our lives." Sheldon says stepping down from the pulpit.

"That was lovely." Amy tells him.

"That was one of the hardest things I have ever done." He tells her grabbing her hand again.

**Just a few notes**

** Thank you to Shamy4eva for helping me with this chapter**

**I Know I said this was the last chapter last tie but I lied there is still one more to go.**

**The * is the give credit to Lisa Loeb for writing that line for me. I was listening to her on a loop and realized that I had written one of the lines in and I liked it so much I will just give her credit. It is in the song Sandalwood.**

**Thank you for all the reviews! Don't be shy tell me what you think, how do you see this ending? What would you like to see happen?**


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